Crimson Regret
by Lady Amaya
Summary: AU Zuko's old teacher, who left under strange circumstances, has come back to take her prize pupil away. But what did she teach Zuko and why was Zuko ordered to forget her and her teachings? ZxK Zutara
1. Remember

Hello everyone! This is my second Avatar fic. This is not a sequel to the first one. Please review because that helps me. This is a Zutara, so don't worry! I don't have much else to say, so onto the fic!

Crimson Regret

Remember

"You've been doing well." He dropped out of the stance he had been in and turned around to face the owner of the voice, a woman. The young man had been practicing alone in a garden in the palace, far away from prying eyes. No one should have bothered him there. No one. It was a deserted place that he snuck off to so that he could think. Not even his uncle could find him when he came here. And there was only one way into the area. He would have seen or heard her enter. Unless she had managed to scale the wall. But that was unlikely. Not even he could scale the twenty foot stone walls that surrounded the small garden. He had tried. The walls were smoothed down and too wide to break through. They went too deep for him to even think of digging a tunnel under.

Golden eyes stared at her, waiting for her to speak again. Hiding in the shadows of a Sakura tree, a woman watched him. He couldn't make out anything more than she was thin and a bit taller than him. He could just imagine her smirking at him. He opened his mouth to demand who she was, what she was doing here, but other words poured out of his mouth. Words that he did not want to say but somehow did.

"Hellfire!" He listened to himself shout in glee. "What are you doing here?" He tried to move his hand to his throat, surprised that his voice had taken a mind of its own, but his hand did not obey him, much like his voice. The woman blanketed in shadows shrugged as she leaned against the tree.

"Nothing much. I just came back to claim my prize pupil." Something tugged at his heart when he heard that. He couldn't name the exact emotion. Was it fear? Was it worry? It felt like a mixture of both. It wasn't jealously, that was for sure. This emotion . . . was too dark. Whatever it was, it was strong. It overpowered him and he spoke once more, despite his effort not to.

"Oh? Who's that?" A dark chuckle entered the air as the woman began to walk forward.

"You, silly boy." The only thing that became visible were two pitch black eyes. Eyes that sucked him in and refused to let go. He couldn't tear his eyes away from hers. Fear gripped him, a strong fear. She was close to him, too close! He had to get away! He had to get out of there! "And what do you say to that?"

"I'm your best student, Hellfire?" He could feel her nod even though all he could do was look into her black eyes.

"Of course. You have a talent I have yet to see in anyone else."

"A talent?" His naive questions were unsettling. He didn't care about whatever conversation her was having with this strange woman. He had to get away. "Are you sure?"

"Of course," She whispered silkily. "I've taught you since you were old enough to train. Your father may not see it, but I do." He felt a hand cup the side of his face. The cool leather against his warm skin did not calm him as he assumed that it was meant to do. "Your father is a fool. I've seen hundreds like him. Only wanting to take and take but never give."

"Hellfire . . . your talk is treasonous." He whispered as he backed away, finally. He was relieved that he finally had space between the two. She had been too close. The young man found himself looking away from Hellfire.

"My dear boy," She purred as she lifted his chin up and made him look back into her eyes. He felt himself slowly drifting away from the world as her eyes seemed to capture him. Fire swirled inside of them. "I only do this so that you, the greatest firebender I have seen since Roku, will not be harmed. My lessons are more important than this war."

". . . more . . . important . . . ." He repeated in a daze. His mind screamed at him to stop, to look away. But he couldn't. He was lost in her gaze.

"Tell me . . . ." She whispered as she pulled him close to her again. ". . . . tell me that you'll come and save yourself. I know what's best for you, my child. I don't want to see him destroy you like he did your mother."

". . . . destroy me . . . . like mother?" That statement seemed to pull him slightly out of his daze. But only slightly and she saw her mistake. The fire in her eyes intensified.

"I have watched your family since long before you. I know what's best."

". . . you . . . know what's best." He lost focus on everything but those eyes. His thoughts seemed to fade away. Everything faded away.

"I do. And now we have to leave before-" She jumped away, back into the shadows of the Sakura tree as a stream of fire consumed the spot she had been standing in. He blinked, his eyes focusing once more and the world coming back to him.

"You will leave here, Hellfire!" His uncle hissed as guards flooded the gardens. "And you never come back!" Hellfire narrowed her eyes before looking at him again.

"Come to me, my student. They will make you forget it all. Forget all my teachings. And those teachings are the only thing of your mother's that you have." He looked between his uncle and Hellfire.

"Forget?" He echoed, confused. "Why? I don't understand. What is going on?"

"She's trying to use you!" His uncle shouted as the Fire Lord entered the garden.

"Hellfire!" Ozai boomed, clouded in shadows himself.

"Ozai." Hellfire hissed and got into a stance, ready to fight.

"You're outnumbered, yasha!" He listened as she snorted in disdain to his father's comment.

"I am no yasha." She hissed. "How dare a petty creature such as yourself call me a yasha!" She glanced over at him before smirking and standing up. "I will retrieve my dear pupil at a later time. Most likely when you least expect it and have forgotten about me. And when he is no longer under your hateful eyes." She swung her arm out and fire spewed forth, blanketing the garden and burning everything in its path. He brought his arms up in reflex and watched as fire rose up and blocked the fire coming towards him while many of the guards screamed at the fire tore into them.

* * *

Zuko bolted up into a sitting position, breathing heavily. That dream . . . part of him knew it was only a dream but still . . . after near eight years, why now? It had been so long that it had taken him awhile to really remember who Hellfire was. He was surprised that he could ever forget. He shook his head and kicked off the tangled, sweat-drenched sheets. The fire prince rubbed his good eye with the back of his hand. A knock on his door made his head snap up in its direction.

"Prince Zuko?" His uncle's voice was filled with concern. "Is something wrong? I thought I heard you cry out." Zuko didn't dare trust his appearance at the moment so he opened his mouth to answer but instead of words, bile came out. Zuko faintly heard his uncle open his door as he heaved. Several minutes passed as he threw up beside bed. He felt his uncle's hand on his back as he vomited. Finally, it stopped. "I'll get you some soup and someone to clean up this mess."

"I . . . I don't want soup." Zuko managed to get out, his voice raw. Iroh sighed and shook his head.

"You may not want it, but you will have it. You need to eat. Even if it is just to have something in your stomach to throw up other than stomach acid." Zuko closed his eyes and listened as his uncle walked away. He fell back against mattress and waited for his uncle to come back. Why was he haunted with nightmares? His usual dreams consisted of his Agni Kai. But not tonight. Tonight it was something he feared even more. It was of Hellfire. A . . . . woman, for lack of a better word, bent on taking her prize pupil, him, away from everything he knew. He opened his eyes when he heard his uncle enter the room again, this time with a few servants. "Prince Zuko, go take a bath and then, when you are done, come have some soup." Sighing, Zuko nodded and got out of bed, careful to avoid the bile. Grabbing a change of clothes, Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation made his way to the bathroom. Iroh followed him to make sure that Zuko did not vomit again. "Do you need me to wait outside?"

"No, Uncle." Zuko growled, barely able to hold back his temper. He was not some weakling that needed help. He was a prince! He was the Prince of the Fire Nation! It didn't matter if he was banished, he was still a prince. He didn't need to be treated with baby gloves.

"Very well. Do not take too long or I will get worried." Zuko sighed and nodded, closing the door and locking it. His uncle did enough for him as it was. He treated Zuko like he was his own son. Zuko turned on the water and began to fill the large tub with hot water. He was thankful that his uncle had made sure there was a large tub when they got the new ship. Their old one had a large tub as well, the small one had been replaced as soon as the ship was made into Zuko's new home. Iroh knew that Zuko liked to submerse himself in the water completely, letting the steam and heat from the water take away his troubles for the moment.

* * *

"Well, you seem alright." The ship doctor muttered as he scratched the back of his head. Iroh rubbed his chin in confusion before speaking.

"This is very odd. Other than vomiting there is nothing wrong with you." Zuko shrugged and looked away.

"Maybe it was something I ate." He mumbled. The doctor sighed.

"Well, until we can further explain this, don't overexert yourself and watch what you eat and drink." Zuko nodded and the doctor left, leaving him and his uncle in his room.

"Is there something you need, Prince Zuko?" The prince shook his head.

"No, the soup is staying down just fine." Iroh nodded. "You can go, uncle." Zuko laid down on his bed and pulled the clean covers over himself. Iroh hesitated, causing Prince Zuko to look over at him.

"Is there something you want, uncle?" Iroh sat on the edge of Zuko's bed and sighed.

"Prince Zuko . . . what is it you're not telling us?" Zuko did not look at his uncle directly, instead her opted for staring at a spot on the wall over his shoulder.

". . . nothing, uncle." Iroh closed his eyes and nodded.

"Very well." He stood up and walked to the door. Pausing right before he opened it, Iroh looked back at his nephew. ". . . . Prince Zuko . . . I will wait until you are ready." With that said, his uncle left him alone in the room.

_'I should have told him.'_ The Prince thought as he rolled over in bed. _'But . . . . it was just a dream . . . Hellfire is gone. I'll never see her again. For whatever crime she committed.'_


	2. Stranger

Crimson Regret

Stranger

Aang laughed as Mom darted forward and stole the small bit of ice Aang had been floating above his hand. Katara smiled and made her way to the young boy by the campfire. They had landed by a small lake and set up camp. Sokka was off trying to catch some fish in order to have meat to eat, leaving Katara and Aang to themselves. Katara was slightly nervous about it. She had sensed Aang had feelings for her that were more than a friend's. The truth was, Katara didn't want to tell him that she saw him as nothing more than a friend, a brother really, and break his big heart. Katara knew that it was just some silly crush, but still. It hurt when crushes rejected you or turned out to be horrible people. She knew from Jet.

Aang looked up and saw Katara walking towards him. His smile brightened and he scooted over on the log that he had been sitting on, giving her room to sit. When she sat, she glanced up at the stars before looking at Aang.

"Hey Katara. What's up?" She opened her mouth to speak but a twig snapped, drawing their attention to the woods. Sokka stepped through the trees with a cloaked figure beside him. The hood they had up blocked their face and the cloak closed around them completely. There was no way any features could be identified.

"Sokka?" Katara asked, wary. He should have come from the shore, not the woods. She hadn't even seen him go into the woods. Not only that, everything inside of her was screaming to be careful.

"Hey guys!" Sokka greeted them, cheerfully. "I've found another teacher for Aang." The young avatar smiled at his companion.

"That's great, Sokka! I can finally start learning Earthbending! I thought we would have to go all the way to Omashu for Bumi to teach me." Sokka laughed and shook his head.

"No, not Earthbending, Firebending!" Katara felt her blood run cold at those words. Aang stared at Sokka in confusion.

"But . . . . if he's a firebender then . . . . . why are you so trusting?" Katara asked. She knew her brother hated all firebenders. Why would he be so trusting towards a complete stranger? The cloaked figure stepped forward and a woman's sharp crystal voice ran out.

"I have been cast out of the Fire Nation because I do not care for this war." The fire's light eliminated only the lower half of her face, revealing porcelain skin and ruby red lips. The black hood kept her eyes hidden in the shadows.

"Really?" Aang bounded up to the cloaked figure and peered up at her. "Why?" The woman smirked.

"Aren't you a curious boy." She laughed and reached up. Her hand was covered in a dark brown leather gloves. The glove had been rolled up so it did not pass her wrist. Her skin was covered in a black netted fabric. She rested her cool gloved hand on top of Aang's head. "I do not agree with Ozai. I despise the man." She removed her hand and let it drop back under the cloak. "He is a fool. And the men he has working for him are fools. The Fire Nation seems to be too weak to argue with him. So I left." Aang smiled, accepting her answer.

"This is good. This means that I won't have to try and find Jong-Jong again."

"Jong-Jong?" The woman repeated. "I knew him. A good general. Whatever happened to him?" Sokka stepped up next to the woman and smiled.

"He defected. He's been in hiding. Jong-Jong taught Aang alittle bit of Firebending, but not much."

"I see. Well, I will teach you all the Firebending I know. I _am_ a master."

"That's great!" Exclaimed the young airbender as he flipped in the air in excitement. Katara had barely said a word. Katara watched as the woman turned to her.

"You must be Katara. Sokka told me about you." Katara glanced at Sokka.

"He did, did he?" The woman nodded.

"Yes. You are suppose to be a good waterbender. I look forward to seeing you in action some time." Katara smiled kindly at the woman. She still didn't trust her. Something inside of Katara was screaming at her to be on guard around her. And she was going to listen to that little voice. Call . . . woman's intuition. It had told her to get Aang out of the iceberg. It had told her to not take that scroll. Whenever she didn't listen to it, something bad happened. She would not make that mistake.

* * *

Zuko looked over the railing of his ship. He had snuck out in the middle of the night to get some fresh air. It was the only way to try and clear his mind. No matter how long he meditated or how hard he tried, his mind would jump back to that dream. A cold chill ran through him every time he thought of that dream. What if it meant something? He was not one to believe that dreams could predict the future or had a reason but still! This was Hellfire! Hellfire was not someone he could easily brush off, even if it was only a memory. Sighing heavily Prince Zuko looked up at the stars. Maybe he should have gone with Hellfire. She had been right. The second she was gone, he was ordered never to practice her teachings again. Even his uncle demanded that all of her teaching should be ignored. Which was probably why he would so blatantly defy his uncle. He knew that breathing was key to mastering the firebending. And he could use breath to firebend. He didn't find it that hard. It was just . . . . no one ever told him what Hellfire did! Whenever he had asked someone about it, they would scowl and tell him not to mention it again. Zuko slammed his fist down onto the railing. 

"It's not fair." He muttered as he stood up straight and took a deep breath.

"What's not fair?" Zuko snapped his head back to look at his uncle. Iroh looked tired. It caused a pang of guilt to go through him. Iroh had been taking care of everything Zuko needed. And right now, his uncle opted to stay up in the middle of the night. Probably to make sure he didn't start to vomit again.

"Nothing uncle." He hated lying to him. But the young prince hated many things that he did and that still didn't stop him. He hated hunting down some kid. He hated supporting his father's war. He hated not killing Zhao whenever he got the chance. Iroh nodded and watched as Zuko walked by him.

"Prince Zuko?" Zuko stopped and looked over at his uncle.

"Yes, uncle?"

". . . . tomorrow we'll be on land. It will be good for you to be on stable and steady ground." Zuko nodded.

"Thank you." With that said, Zuko went through the hatch and back to his room.

* * *

"So, what's your name?" The hooded woman looked over at Katara when the waterbender asked her the question. 

"My name is Yumi." Katara smiled at Yumi, even though she wanted to just get away. The young waterbender looked over at Aang.

"I'm going to go practice my waterbending." Aang nodded, distracted as he ate some berries. Standing up, Katara walked to the shore. She listened as Yumi spoke to Aang.

"Young Avatar-"

"Aang." He corrected, cutting her off. "Call me Aang."

"Very well, Aang. I want you to find your center."

"Why?" Yumi chuckled lightly at his naive response.

"You must be centered in order to have control. Once you have control, things will be easier."

"Jong-jong was different. He just had be breath a lot and stay in a wide stance."

"Well, Jong-jong was correct. But he was also taking it too slow. You only have so much time." Katara tuned them out as she pulled some water out of the lake. Slowly Katara began to move her arms about, having the water follow her movement. She worked the water into a thin stream and them mashed it up in to one big ball. She played with the water, making shapes out of it. Finally, when she tired, she put the water back into the lake and turned around. She watched as Aang cradled a small flame in his hands. She winced slightly as she remember all the things fire had done to her. Taken her mother . . . burn her hands.

"Hey Katara! Look what I can do!"

* * *

I honestly don't think that this story will be very long. It's just something I had to get out of my system. But I will try to make it as long and as good as I can. Please review. Maybe if you give me some ideas, then it will be longer, too. 


	3. Betrayal

Crimson Regret

Betrayal

Zuko calmly stared up at sky. Something didn't feel right. It had been a week since he vomited after the dream of Hellfire. For a week his uncle had hovered and mothered him. For that week he had been too tired to protest his uncle's teachings and actually did what his uncle said. The dream of Hellfire unnerved him enough that he would take his uncle's words to heart, just in case.

"Is there something something wrong?" Zuko sighed and looked back at his uncle.

"No. I'm fine." Iroh shook his head warily.

"It's been a week, Prince Zuko. For a week you haven't been acting normal." Zuko shrugged absently. It was true. He hadn't lost his temper. He did what his uncle said. He didn't even bark out orders, simply requests. He could see how the crew was on edge around this . . . 'new' him. He was too tired to be angry or arrogant. He couldn't sleep that well lately and it bothered him. He supposed that he was worried over what a dream about Hellfire meant. "It has to do with that dream, doesn't it?" Zuko spun around and looked at his uncle in surprised.

"I never told you about any dream!" Zuko hissed, his temper flaring. His uncle gazed at him sternly.

"You cry out in the middle of the night. Then you spend nearly ten minutes regulating. And for a week afterwards you act strange. Whatever it was that night, it has bothered you on several different levels." Zuko glared at him before gazing out at the shore a short ways off. His eyes narrowed.

"There's something on the beach." He muttered.

"Don't try to change the subject-" Zuko had walked away.

"Prepare my boat. I'm going to check things out!" Iroh hurried after him.

"Prince Zuko!" The younger firebender stopped and turned around to face his uncle. "What are you doing? You're chasing after some figure on the beach and-"

"Uncle!" Zuko cut him off. "Something doesn't feel right. Besides, the Avatar was seen going in this direction. Maybe I can find some clues on the island." Iroh sighed heavily and nodded.

"Very well." He turned his stern gaze onto Zuko. "But when you get back, we _will_ talk more on this. Understand?" Zuko glared at his uncle for a few minutes. Finally, he realized that there was no getting out of it so he looked away.

"I understand." Before his uncle could say another word, the prince left.

* * *

Katara stood on the beach, tears streaking her face. There was a distant look in her eyes. She felt the wind pick up and blow her dress and braid about in the air. The tears kept on pouring down her face. It was the worst day in her life. And it kept on replaying over and over in her head.

"_We don't need you. I've mastered waterbending." Katara looked at Aang, shocked her would say something like that. She had just woken up to see that the camp was mostly packed and her things were still out. She had moved to start to pack them when Aang spoke up and stopped her. His words had cut her deeply._

"_But . . . . we're friends." This wasn't real. Aang might not need her but . . . they were friends!_

"_I was only friends with you so I could learn waterbending. Turns out I didn't need you."_

"_Q-quit joking around." It had to be a joke. Some cruel little joke. Any minute Aang would drop the serious face and yell 'gotta!' and then everything would be fine. But it wasn't a joke. _

"_I'm serious. I only kept you around because I thought you might like me. But I was wrong." She looked over at her brother. He and Yumi had been quite._

"_Sokka, talk some sense into Aang!"_

"_No way. He's right. You're a liability." She stepped back in shock and horror. Yumi looked up and she caught herself in Yumi's black eyes._

After breaking her will, they flew away. Katara didn't know what to do. He family was gone. She had no way off the island. There was a town somewhere on the island, they had seen it when they flew over it, but she had no money. Her parka, her mother's necklace, and the clothes on her back. That's all she had. Nothing was left. Then, to make matters worse, some thieves had found her. Katara had no water with her and barely escaped. She looked down at the clothes she wore. Blood seeped out of the gash a thief's knife had made. They had ripped the clothes. When they found out that she had nothing on her, they tried to rape her. She had somehow managed to outrun them. She was broken. Nothing was left. Even if she healed the wound, the blood on her clothes would attract animals. Animals that would try to eat her. She didn't want to be eaten alive. She stepped into the waves. The shock of it all was overwhelming.

_'What am I doing?'_ Katara asked herself as she walked further into the waves. She was in a daze. _'I can't let it end like this!'_

_But why shouldn't I end it?_ Purred a strange voice in the back of her head.

_'I won't give up! There is still so much more for me to do!'_

_Like what?_ The voice asked. _This is the only way. Besides . . . there's no one here to save you . . ._

"No one . . . here to save me." Katara repeated with her eyes glazed over. She kept on walking, even when a big wave knocked her back. More tears. Even the sea didn't want her. Oh well. All she needed was to drown. Then it could throw her away like everyone else.

* * *

Zuko frowned. He had good eyesight with his one eye. He knew he had spotted something on the beach. And it was true that he had wanted to end that conversation. 

"Go to the village! See if anyone has seen the Avatar or his flying pet!" The four men he had brought along nodded.

"Sir, where will you be?"

"I'm going to the beach. One of them is a waterbender and I did see something on the beach." The soldiers nodded once more and left. Truthfully, he thought nothing more of whatever he saw on the beach than that it was debris. So he was just going to walk around on the beach and clear his head. Zuko started off down the beach in the direction that he saw the debris. He had to keep up appearances. Zuko picked up a rock when he was positive that he was far enough away from his boat and hurled it into the sea, watching it skip several times before sinking. Glaring up ahead, he stalked forward. Smoke rose from his clenched fists. It wasn't fair! Every time something was good in his life, it had to blow up in his face. Zuko crossed his arms and glared up at the sky.

"No one . . . here to save me." Zuko's head snapped down and he glanced along the beach when he heard those words carried to him by the wind. He recognized that voice. His eyes narrowed when he realized whom the voice belonged to.

_'The girl!'_ A plan began to form in his mind. He would take the girl for bait, that much obvious. But first he had to find her. Zuko ran down the shore in search of the girl. He didn't need to get to far when he saw her standing in the waves. _'Did she see me?'_ He wondered as she treaded further into the water. He frowned. He needed to get to her and knock her out. Before he could think more on it, he realized just how far out she was. _'Odd . . . I know she couldn't have gotten that far out in such a short time . . . what was she doing in the water?'_ His answer came when she went under the waves and did not come back up. He waited several minutes before it hit him.

"Suicide!" He shook his head after he took a step forward. It wasn't his place to save her. She wanted death.

_But then, why not give her death after the Avatar is in your position?_ Some small little voice asked him in a cold whisper. Yes . . . this was true. He would let her jump off his boat after he used her as bait. It was too easy. She wouldn't try and escape. Not when he promised death. He might even promise to do it himself, if that kept her alive long enough.

* * *

Katara felt her heart pound against her chest as the water surrounded her. Her lungs screamed for air but when she opened her mouth, water poured into her. She watched the sun shine through the water as she sank further away from the surface. 

_'No! I can't give up! I need to survive!'_

_For what? For who? Nobody wants you . . . ._

_'There's something wrong with Aang and Sokka! There has to be.' _Katara's lungs felt ready to burst. Her eyesight began to fade.

_Nothing is wrong with them. Just give in. The pain won't last much longer . . . ._

Katara closed her eyes slowly, but not before she saw a dark shadow enter her vision and felt an arm wrap around her waist.

* * *

Zuko cursed silent when he pulled her up and reached the surface of the water. Even with his armor on, he could still swim. After two years at sea he had mastered that small feat. He had one arm wrapped around the girl to hold her and the other one helped him tread water. The young prince swam towards the shore. After a moment his feet were able to touch the sand once more. He stood up and picked Katara up with both his arms. He hurried out of the water and laid her on the ground. 

"Damn!" Zuko hissed when he realized that she wasn't breathing. Pinching her nose shut, he opened her mouth and pressed his mouth against hers and blew air into her body. Her chest rose and Zuko pulled away. He pushed down on her chest and stomach. Once more he closed her nose and breathed for her. He continued to breath for her and push down on her chest and stomach for several minutes. Finally, Katara coughed out water. She coughed out water for several minutes before she finally opened her eyes.

"Z-Zuko!" She wheezed.

* * *

Wasn't one of my best works. I really am not to fond of this chapter. Small bout of writer's block has gotten to me. Don't worry, I'm sure I'll be alright. Please review. It helps me figure out what to fix and sometimes gives me ideas. Thanks for reading. 


	4. Tears

Crimson Regret

Tears

"Z-Zuko?" Katara gasped as Zuko glared down at her.

"Where's the Avatar!" He demanded. His harsh tone did not bother her. It was his words. The Avatar. Her best friend. The person who abandoned her. Tears started to gather in her eyes. Zuko was taken back but his face did not show it. "Where is he, girl!" He grabbed her upper arm and squeezed. She whimpered in pain as his skin began to grow hot.

"PRINCE ZUKO!" Zuko looked behind him at his uncle but kept his grip on the waterbender. He would not let this chance to capture the Avatar slip through his fingers.

"What!" The young prince growled. Iroh glared at his nephew.

"She is a lady. She should not be treated so roughly! I thought you were raised better than that!" Zuko looked back down at Katara, angry. But his grip loosened slightly and his skin cooled down.

"Where is the Avatar, girl!" Zuko demanded once more. Her eyes burned as she tried to wipe away the tears. However, this only caused Katara felt the hot tears begin to pour down her face. Iroh's gaze softened when when saw the tears.

"Stop crying!" Zuko snapped, only succeeding in more tears to come from her eyes.

"Prince Zuko," Iroh chided. "this young lady seems to be in pain." Zuko sent his uncle a wry glare.

"Have you forgotten, old man? She's friends with the Avatar!" Katara sniffled and ripped her arm out of his grasp. She was up and running before Zuko had a chance to stop her. However, she didn't get ten feet when a heavy weight plowed into her and sent her tumbling into the sand, she twisted at the last second to land on her back instead of her face. Zuko managed to stay on top of her and somehow managed to wrestle her arms to the sides of her head as he straddled her. She was kicking and crying, struggling as hard as she could to get free.

"Wench, there's no way that I'll let you go back to the Avatar and warn him!" Zuko yelled, only to have her struggles cease, surprising him. She closed her eyes and looked away.

"Aang hates me." She whispered quietly. "He left me here to rot." Zuko narrowed his eyes.

"Do you take me for a fool? Why would the Avatar leave you behind!" She answered him as more tears seeped from her eyes and ran down her face.

"I . . . he sees me as nothing but a liability. He and my brother left with some fire master named Yumi." She let out a strangled sob. "He left me for thieves to try and kill me!" Zuko slowly released her wrists and stood up.

"You're of no use to me then." He spat venomously and stalked off, back to the ship. However, he stopped and spun around when he heard his uncle speak.

"Do you need a place to stay?" Iroh had knelt beside Katara and had put a gentle hand on her shoulder.

"Uncle-" He was silenced by a stern look from his uncle.

"Why do you care?" Katara voice was soft as she spoke. She was tired and all she really wanted was to sleep. Then she might be able to wake up and see Aang laughing at one of her brother's stupid remarks. She would hug them both right away and make them promise to never leave her behind. She was wary as the older man smiled softly at her.

"I would hate to see a young lady such as yourself suffer. Come, you'll be my guest on my ship."

"Uncle!" Zuko cried, astonished. "She's probably just trying to get friendly with us so she can learn about our plans and sabotage them!" Iroh helped Katara stand up and gazed at Zuko with a stern look in his eyes.

"She will be my guest, nephew. It is my ship and what I say goes." Zuko looked at his uncle, taken back and slightly hurt. However he shook it off. With a growl, he turned and stalked off once more.

"Fine! Do as you wish! But we will need to go as soon as possible!" Katara watched him walk away and frowned when she shifted her gaze to Iroh.

"W-why are you so nice to me? I'm friends with the Avatar. I'm from the Water Tribe. I don't understand." Iroh smiled happily as he lead Katara back to the ship, slowly.

"I am an old man. I've seen so much war that I am sick of it. I welcome the Avatar's return. After all, who is the Fire Nation to demand the others bow down to it?" Katara stared at him, confused.

"But . . . you're from the Fire Nation. And Prince Zuko-"

"Is only hunting the Avatar so he may return home." Iroh finished for her. "He has no personal opinion of the young Avatar. Prince Zuko truly doesn't care for the war either." She watched as he glanced ahead at the small ship. "But don't tell anyone I've said any of this. I might get in trouble." Katara nodded and looked up at the Fire Nation ship. "Oh! Look at me! You're soaking wet and could catch a cold and all I do is ramble. Come, let us here and get you warm." Stopped walking and shook her head.

"I . . . . never said that I would come." Iroh sighed warily and nodded.

"Yes, that is true. But! You never said that you wouldn't come!" Katara smiled weakly at him.

". . . . what will you do with me?" Iroh sighed and crossed his arms in his sleeves.

"I require nothing more than your kind company. When we find the Avatar again, we will try and discuss why he left you. He does not seem the type to be so cruel to a friend."

* * *

Breath in . . . breath out . . . . . breath in . . . . breath out . . . .

"Prince Zuko?" Zuko cracked open his good eye and glared at his uncle.

"What?" He growled, annoyed at being interrupted in his mediation.

". . . . what has been bothering you?" Zuko closed his eyes and huffed.

"Nothing uncle." Iroh watched him quietly before he spoke up.

"Very well. I won't push you on the subject. However," Iroh instantly brightened up, causing the prince of fire to force himself not to flinch. Whenever Iroh had a mood swing like that, Zuko usually ended up with a headache. "I would like to borrow some of your smaller clothes that you have out grown." Zuko opened his eyes and waved a hand over the candles he had been mediating in front of, making the flames go out.

"Do I even want to know why?" Iroh beamed at his young nephew.

"Why, for the young lady, Katara, of course!" Zuko turned around and glared at Iroh.

"She actually accepted!" He didn't give Iroh a chance to respond. "I knew it! She's trying to gain information on us for her little Avatar!" Iroh sighed warily and shook his head. He had hoped that Prince Zuko would not jump to that conclusion.

"Prince Zuko . . . . your old clothes. I need them. She has had her own clothes ripped and we need to get her something suitable." Zuko opened his mouth to protest but Iroh cut him off. ". . . . I saw you pull her out of the water and breath life back into her, your majesty. I doubt that she planned for you to do that." Turning his head away in annoyance, Zuko crossed his arms.

"Fine. I'll get the clothes."

* * *

Katara frowned as she stepped out of the hot tube. Her clothes were cold and torn. With an annoyed sigh Katara picked up the torn clothes and began to bend the water out of them. Looking around, she found no other place to deposit the water from the clothes was the tube. Once she had done that, Katara took the now dry clothes and pulled them on. Katara felt tears gather as she stared down at the tears in her dress. Sokka and Aang . . . . hated her. They abandoned her. A knock brought her out of her self pity. She wiped her eyes and quickly went to the door and opened it, only to be surprised when she saw Prince Zuko standing outside the bathroom with an annoyed look on his face.

". . . can I help you?" With an agitated sigh he thrust folded up clothes at her.

"Here." She took the clothes and stared at them, surprised and confused.

". . . . I don't understand." Zuko growled in annoyance.

"My uncle went to get you some clothes. Until he comes back, you'll have to wear some of my old clothes. Yours are ripped." She looked down at them and nodded.

"Thank you." The young prince seemed startled that she would say something like that. He shifted his weight and scratched the back of his head.

"Er . . . . your welcome." Katara felt more tears enter her vision. Her enemy was showing her mercy because her best friends had abandoned her. She was alone. "What?" Zuko asked when he saw the tears.

". . . . it just hurts . . . . ." Zuko gave her a quick look over, mistaking her real meaning. He didn't see anything wrong with her.

"What does?"

"Being betrayed . . . . abandoned, you know?" Katara felt like kicking herself after she said that. Of course he wouldn't know. He was a prince. Why would a prince be abandoned or betrayed. However, her surprise was evident when she heard his answer.

"Yeah . . . . I know."

* * *

Ok, sorry for the long wait. I've been battling writter's block. Plus school and everything. But yay! Tomorrow is the season finale! I can't wait to see what happens. I'll try to update soon, but that will be near impossible. I'm so busy this weekend! But I'll do my best to get this updated soon. So please review and tell me what you think! Also, I always love to hear what you guys think will happen!  



	5. Pride

Crimson Regret

Pride

Zuko had left abruptly after he told her that he, too, knew of pain from betrayal. Which brought to mind the constant question of how he knew that pain? Perhaps . . . it was connected to that mysterious scar of his. With a sigh, Katara gave up trying to figure out Zuko. The young waterbender took a look at the clothes in her hands. They looked like he had grown out of them a year or so ago. They would probably be a few sizes too big. But that was alright. It was better than the ripped clothes she had on now. Quickly, Katara changed into Zuko's old clothes.

* * *

Zuko breathed evenly. The flames rose and fell with his breath. He had his eyes closed as he fell deeper into meditation. Breathing was a key part of firebending. He had to master firebending if he hoped to have a chance against the Avatar. But it was going to slowly. He was years behind his younger sister. He had spent too much time training with Hellfire. Her teachings had been what brought out his flame. And he was suppose to forget! Forget the only years were he was treated like gold! Before he was treated like dirt!

The candles flared, dangerously high. Zuko frowned when he felt the heat rise in the room and calmed himself. He had to stay in control. Control was key. He had to control the flames perfectly. Then he could move on to the next step. Then he would be closer to being a firemaster. If he wanted to prove himself, he would have to be a firemaster _before_ his sister, Zula. Meaning . . . . he would have to do the forbidden. Something not even his uncle would allow. Zuko stood up and waved his hands over the flames, smothering them again like he had done so many times before. The young prince walked over to his door and locked it.

No one could know that he still practiced Hellfire's teachings. No one could know that he never forget them. That he had practiced them in secret for years. No one could know that he had progressed rapidly, even without a teacher. If it was discovered that he had defied his father, uncle, and the law . . . . should anyone find out that he had disobeyed and continued the forbidden arts . . . . he didn't think there was anywhere far away enough for him to run to.

* * *

Katara looked around as she stepped out of the bathroom. A servant stood there, waiting.

"Um . . . hello?" He bowed slightly.

"General Iroh asked me to show you to your new room while he was out." Without saying another word, the servant turned on his heels and began to walk away. Katara hurried after him, not wanting to get lost in the vast maze that was the Fire Nation ship. She was glad that she had rolled up Zuko's old pants, else she would have tripped. It was a simple pair of dark red pants and red, sleeveless shirt that was button up in front. The shirt could pass for a dress, it was that big on Katara. She wore her old shoes with the outfit, clashing horrible in her opinion. But it was all she had. She supposed that she should thank Zuko and Iroh for their kindness.

It was surprising that firebenders were the ones that saved her. It was surprising that _Zuko_ had saved her. She would never had thought that he would do it. But then again, he had been planning to use her as bait. That much was obvious. But Zuko's uncle, Iroh . . . he confused her. Why would he help her? Why would he be so kind? All that he wanted was someone to talk to in exchange. At least, that was the reason she was given. But why did she agree to go with them? To see Aang and Sokka again? She would even settle for seeing the stranger, Yumi, again.

"Here it is, ma'am." The servant's voice snapped her out of her thoughts. She nodded her thanks when he opened the door and stepped through the doorway into the room. It was simple with a vanity in the far corner and a bed on the opposite wall of the vanity. On the wall with the door to the hallway there was a large wooden armoire. The room was just fine in Katara's opinion. The door closed behind Katara, making her turn and look in surprise. She was alone all over again. She felt a tug at her heart when she realized how alone she was. Katara made her way over to the bed and crawled under the covers. Sleep claimed her quickly.

* * *

Zuko slipped into the hot water, exhausted. He had practiced Hellfire's teachings for nearly two hours. It was draining and he probably would be regretting practicing that long in such a small room but it was worth it. He knew that he was far closer to becoming a master in after those two hours of practice than he would be if he stuck to regular methods. He took a deep breath and went under water for a moment before coming back up. The heat was close to burning him, just the way he liked it after he finished training. It seeped into his muscles and relaxed and soothed them. Zuko let out a sigh before taking the soap and scrubbing himself clean. As he cleaned, memories floated up to the surface.

"_Good, Prince Zuko." The young boy, no older than six, smirked. "You're doing remarkably well." He was practicing out in the clearing by the Sakura tree. Hellfire stood under it, bathed in shadow._

"_Of course, Hellfire." His voice was full of pride._

"_. . . . pride . . . ." She muttered before sending a powerful blast of fire at the prince. He barely brought his arms up and blocked it in time. Yet the force of the fire threw him to his back a few feet from where he had been standing. "Lose it. It proves fatal on the battlefield. It hinders you. It blinds you." She crossed her arms and put most of her weight on one foot while chiding him. He had pushed himself up with his upper arms and stared at her with shock evident on his face. "I have seen too many promising students lose themselves to their pride and it costs them their lives. Do not be one of these students, Zuko." Zuko nodded numbly and stood up. _

"_I understand, Hellfire." He had his back to her while he got ready to practice again. However, he was pulled back into a hug. _

"_Do not take my words too harshly, my young prince. I only speak coldly so that you will become great. With my teachings, you will go places no other mortal has gone." He felt his face light up and he looked up into her black eyes._

"_Are you sure, Hellfire?" He knew that she was smirking._

"_Of course, my prince." He felt himself frown as he looked down._

"_But . . . . it was almost impossible for me to start firebending . . . . . Zula's only five and she has no problem firebending. Father says she was born lucky." Hellfire scoffed and picked Zuko up, surprising him. She placed him on her shoulders and smiled when he held onto her head instinctively to keep himself balanced. _

"_I will not sugarcoat my words for you, my prince. Princess Zula is a prodigy firebender. But she will never be able to follow my teachings. She was just not made for them like you were. I've tried to test her to see if she will take to them, but she is slow and has no patience for them. Nor does she have the skill to wield the art properly. And you are a prodigy, too. Just not like your sister. Your father may not see it now, but one day, he will." Zuko smiled. _

Zuko closed his eyes and sighed.

"Hellfire . . . . you treated me like your own son. I wish . . . ." He opened his eyes and stared up at the ceiling. "I wish that I could see you again."

* * *

Zuko could only stare as his uncle walked up the ramp to the ship. Behind him three soldiers were lugging his newly acquired items, all in large chests. His uncle spotted him and waved at him. Once more, Zuko could only stare. It was bizarre. How anyone could shop that much was beyond him.

"Uncle!" He growled, his fists shaking by his sides. His uncle glanced at him before going below deck with the soldiers following him. "UNCLE!" Zuko roared as he followed him. "What do you think you are doing with all that stuff!" This time his uncle stopped and turned to look at him with a grin planted on his face.

"Why, the young lady needs things! I bought her a few items. Nothing much. Some clothes . . . a brush . . . . some books . . . . . more clothes . . . . those sort of things." Zuko pointed at the three soldiers that were holding the numberous items.

"YOU BOUGHT ENOUGH STUFF FOR HER TO LIVE HERE!" Iroh pulled out a fan and snapped his wrist, opening it with ease. He fanned himself and eyed his nephew carefully.

"She is my guest, Prince Zuko. I can buy her whatever I want. Unless . . ." Iroh trailed off, gazing calmly at his furious nephew.

"Unless what?" Zuko hissed. Iroh smiled brightly.

"Unless you want to give her things!"

* * *

Katara had been sleeping soundly until she heard shouting outside her door.

"YOU BOUGHT ENOUGH STUFF FOR HER TO LIVE HERE!" Was that Zuko! She looked around frantically, wanting to warn Aang. But then it all came rushing back to her. Iroh was being kind enough to give her a space on his ship. Katara fought back tears before a voice came booming through the walls. "HAVE YOU LOST YOUR MIND, OLD MAN!" Katara scrunched up her brow. What was Zuko shouting about?

Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, she sat up and crawled out of the bed. The cold floor woke her up even more. The young waterbender stumbled over to the door and pulled it open, sticking her head out into the hallway to see Iroh and Zuko, shouting. Well, it was more like Zuko shouting and Iroh fanning himself calmly and rationally.

"All I'm saying is that-"

"Is that you're insane, that's all!" Zuko cut in. Iroh sighed and rolled his eyes.

"Would you listen to me for just one second?"

"NO! You've lost your mind!" Iroh had the dignity to look offended by that.

"I have not!" Iroh turned away from Zuko at the point and spotted Katara. "Ah! Katara! I was coming to see you. I've bought some clothes. We can't have you running around in Prince Zuko's old training clothes, can we?" Katara stared at Iroh confused before he motioned for the soldiers to follow him. "May I enter your room?" Katara opened the door and moved out of the way completely. Iroh entered her room with the three soldiers and motioned for them to place the items on the ground. Katara watched as they did so and they then left her room. Zuko, scowling, poked his head into the room.

"Uncle Iroh! You've lost it!" He snapped before turning to leave. Iroh followed after his nephew.

"Prince Zuko, you should pay more respect to your elders! I'm an old man, there is no telling how much longer-"

"Don't try to guilt me into anything!" Smiling weakly at their antics, Katara closed the door and locked it. She turned to the items deposited on the floor and moved to the chest closest to her.

* * *

Sokka watched as Aang meditated. The campfire rose and fell with each breath he took. Yumi sat on top of Appa and watched Aang work.

"You've come a long way, dear avatar." Aang opened his eyes and looked up at Yumi. She still wore her black cloak. The mysterious firebender laid down and rolled onto her side, facing away from Aang and Sokka.

"Thanks!"

"But . . . ." Aang watched Yumi carefully as the woman took a deep breath. The fire rose up to the top of the trees surrounding their campsite. She breathed out and the fire returned to normal, the wood hardly effected by the sudden change in the flames. "You have a long way to go before you can more on from the basics to the advance teachings." Aang shrugged.

"Yeah, but I've got to master Earthbending first." Yumi smirked.

"That is very true." She sat up and looked down at him. " . . . . when Katara left . . . . she did not seem happy." Sokka and Aang both looked at the ground as sorrow consumed them.

"Why did she leave?" Aang whispered quietly, so quiet that Yumi barely heard him. With a sigh the firebender laid back down.

"She said she was sick and tired of things. She would not tell me more." Yumi glanced down at Sokka and Aang. "I think, perhaps, she just had too much pride. I've seen even the greatest of benders fall to it."


	6. Sparring

Sparring

"Very good, Prince Zuko! You've greatly improved since last time I watched." Iroh's praise floated through the door. Katara frowned and pushed open the door. She watched as Prince Zuko flipped over his sparring partner and kicked out, sending a powerful blast of fire at him. His partner barely had time to bring up his defense and block the fire. Watching him for a few more minutes, Katara didn't notice Iroh spotting her. "Ah! Ms. Katara! I see that the clothes fit you fine!" Zuko only paused to look at Katara after his sparring partner bowed in respect, ending the fight. She wore black slip on shoes that were made of a soft material. Black pants adorn her slim legs and ended halfway between her knees and feet. A dark blue gi top was over a high collar light blue shirt. A golden sash was tied around her waist to hold the gi closed and she wore lightly tanned gloves to complete her outfit. "They looks wonderful on you. I'm sorry but I couldn't find anything like what you wore before." Zuko sent his uncle a wry glare. He was still angry that his uncle had brought her on board.

"I'm going to meditate." Iroh smiled brightly at his nephew.

"Perhaps you would like to have some tea before you do so?" Another glare. "Well, then perhaps Katara will going with me for tea." Katara smiled weakly at the old man.

"Alright." Iroh shot his nephew a pointed look.

"You see? That's how young people should respond to their elders. You never know when it will be the last-" The fire prince cut his uncle off.

"Your guilt trips don't work on me, uncle." He glanced at her. ". . . . I apologize in advance for my uncle." With that said, he was through the hatch and closing the door behind him. Iroh crossed his arms and pouted.

"He's no fun."

* * *

"I hope my nephew will join us soon." Iroh muttered as he and Katara sat at the table. It had been nearly a week since Prince Zuko saved her from death. Iroh dragged Katara off daily and played Pai Cho with her for most of the day and drank tea with her. She found it a nice change of pace. She had never played the game before so it was a challenge at first. Iroh didn't mind teaching her. He found it refreshing to play new blood.

"Shouldn't he be hungry by now?" Asked the young waterbender. Iroh sighed heavily.

"Sometimes Prince Zuko gets so caught up in something he forgets about everything else."

"Like hunting Aang." Katara added bitterly. Iroh nodded warily. "Why would he do that? Hunt another human being? I know Aang is the Avatar but still . . . ." Iroh looked at Katara and then at the door.

"That is something you must earn the right to know, young Katara." Katara, realizing that she had overstepped her bounds, stood up.

"Maybe I should find him." She started for the door only to see Prince Zuko open it.

"I got caught up meditating." Zuko muttered before sitting at the table. Katara raised an eyebrow, surprised that he would make an excuse. Iroh also seemed surprised. "What?" The young prince of fire had noticed the two staring at him. Katara adverted her eyes and Iroh smiled.

"Nothing." Zuko watched as Katara sat back down the three began to eat the meal in silence. Iroh glanced at the two teenagers. Hmm . . . . a thought was forming in his old mind. A devious plot. One that might just push Zuko over the edge if it backfired. But then again . . . Iroh glanced back at Zuko . . . . it wouldn't backfire. Iroh just had to do the impossible. The Dragon of the West would need help, though. A sly grin worked its way onto Iroh's face. He knew just the crew to help him.

"What are you grinning at, uncle?" Iroh blinked and looked over to see Zuko staring at him strangely.

"Nothing." Iroh faked a yawn and stretched as he stood up. "I am getting tired." Zuko sent him a skeptical look. "I am an old man, Prince Zuko. I need my rest. So I will go to bed now." Iroh left the room and went to go to where the crew had their dinner. He would definitely need reinforcements on this plan.

* * *

"He's up to something." Zuko muttered as Iroh left. Katara watched the older man leave and turned her head to look at Zuko.

"What makes you say that?" Zuko snapped his attention back to Katara.

"I don't need to explain myself to a peasant." Katara narrowed her eyes at his harsh words.

"I should have excepted that from a spoiled, stuck up prince like you!" Now is was Zuko's turn to narrow his eyes.

"What was that?" He growled out.

"You heard me." She crossed her arms. "What, did I hit a nerve?"

"That's some way to treat the guy who saved your life!" She looked like he had physically attacked her after that one. Katara set her jaw and hissed out a reply.

"That was a low blow." Zuko smirked.

"What, argument got too _hot_ for you?" Katara could feel the temperature rise in the room. She didn't know if it was her or it was Zuko's doing.

"Firebenders disgust me." She spat out and strode out of the room. Zuko stood up and grabbed her upper arm. "Let me go!" He dragged her out on deck and shoved her forward. Katara caught herself before she fell and whipped around to glare at Zuko. "What do you think you're doing!" She demanded only to have Zuko drop into a firebending stance. "Have you lost your mind!"

"Last time we fought I won then you won. It's time we settle this!" Katara placed a hand on her hip and pointed up at the full moon.

"Are you mad! The moon's full! I'm at my strongest. We are surrounded by water!" She would have continued but a blast of fire cut her off. She barely had time to roll to the side.

"A fair fight then. You'll need every advantage." Zuko smirked as she growled and pushed herself to her feet.

"That's it! I'm kicking your ass!" She moved her arms gracefully, dragging a huge wave out of the water only to drop it all over the deck as Zuko broke her concentration with a fiery kick.

_'She's got too many advantages. I'm not a master yet. I'll have to end this quick.'_ Zuko thought as he dashed forward. Katara whipped her hand forward and froze the water on the deck, making the prince slide across it and nearly slip before regaining his balance. Zuko did not pause to come up with a plan, instead he sent blast after blast of fire towards Katara to try and stop her from waterbending. However, Katara was pulling up the water from the deck fast enough to block the fire.

_'He's got more stamina than I do. He'll win if he drags this out long enough.'_ Katara began to wrapped the water around him, much like before when she fought him. She froze the water, imprisoning the young prince. Prince Zuko smirked through the ice.

_'Too easy. Hellfire would have my head if I couldn't get out of this cage.'_ Prince Zuko did something that Katara had never seen him do before in a fight. Zuko began to spin around, letting out fire as he went. The fire melted the ice and kept on going out. Katara pulled up a water shield and it held out long enough to protect her form the fire. However, the young prince had managed to evaporate the water on the deck. Katara jumped back in time to avoid a punch from Zuko. She waved her arms as she dodged and managed to pull off a stunt her teacher, Pakku, had pulled when fighting the firebenders. She gathered the water beneath her and raised herself up into the air. She sent blast after blast at Zuko. The prince countered these blasts of water with blasts of fire. _'I think I know how Hellfire would counter this one. But if uncle finds out . . . . I can't use any of her techniques.'_ Deciding to act fast, Zuko opted for spinning around and around again, releasing as much fire as he could.

"ENOUGH!" The two benders stopped what they were doing and looked towards the hatch to see Iroh coming out. Katara slowly released the water and sent it back into the ocean. "I don't know what you two were thinking, but that kind of bending for a spar? Too dangerous!" Zuko marched pass his uncle with a triumphant smirk.

_

* * *

'I'm close. Close enough to the level of a master.'_ Zuko thought as he hurried to his room. He would forgo sleep tonight and train secretly. He had been doing that a lot lately. That way, he would be able to reach the level of a master. That would bring him closer to the level his uncle and father were on. That would bring him pride, he would have beaten his sister to that level. All because he had remembered Hellfire's teachings. All because he did the forbidden and practiced them. He had made leaps and bounds with them. He had gone farther than he thought possible in such a short amount of time.

Zuko locked the door to his room. With a heavy sigh her looked longingly at hs bed but shook his head. No! He would not yield. With such intense training that he had been putting himself through . . . . this was nowhere near the pain he had gone through when he was first banished. Zuko crossed his legs as he sat down and rested his hands on his knees. All he had to do was gain more control.

He would have to thank the girl for the spar. After all, it was her gathering the water beneath her like she did that gave him the final idea he needed to pull off reaching the level of a master. True, no one knew this. He had always held so much back in his fights. He had to stay in control. After all, if he lost himself in a fight against anyone and unleashed all that he was taught . . . . he had never killed before. And Hellfire said to avoid staining his hands with blood as much as possible. Why? He had never gotten the chance to ask her that. She was chased away before that.

Zuko grinned at the thought of his old master. He would do her proud. If it was the last thing he did.

* * *

Ok, I tried to get this up on Thursday and Friday morning but I couldn't. Sorry for the long wait, I was out of town for Friday and Saturday. Please review and tell me what you think. I hope that I'm keeping the characters in . . . well, character. Tell me what you want and you might get a surprise.  



	7. Master

Master

"_Anger is a waste of your time, my prince." A young Prince Zuko looked up and frowned._

"_Hellfire!" She watched him, bathed in the shadows of the sakura tree. "I want to be alone! Leave me alone!" He turned his back on her and crossed his arms._

"_Do you really think a fledgling like yourself should be alone? When your nation is in a war with the others?" Zuko spun around and threw his arms to his sides, fire trailing after his movements._

"_LEAVE ME ALONE!" She watched him closely and shook her head._

"_My dear Prince Zuko . . . . I am your teacher. I have taught you many things. But they will all be worthless should you lose yourself to anger." Zuko scowled at her and turned his head away._

"_Just leave me alone." He muttered only to hear her scoff._

"_You should know me better than that, my prince. Now, tell me what is wrong." Zuko pressed his lips together tightly and shook his head. "No? Then perhaps I should beat it out of you in a friendly spar!" She laughed as she disappeared and reappeared behind him._

He opened his eyes. How long had be been lost in that memory? Prince Zuko shook his head. That day he had spent sparring Hellfire. He remembered her words after she beat him. "_Anger turns the sweetest moments into poison." _He had then confessed that people seemed to have forgotten that today was his mother's birthday. Or they didn't care. When Hellfire heard this she sighed and patted the spot of grass next to her. They had spent the day in silence to honor the departed woman.

A knocking alerted him to someone standing outside his door. Zuko pushed himself out of bed and walked to the door. Upon opening it, he found Iroh smiling.

"Ah, Prince Zuko! We are stopping at an island soon. Perhaps you would like to prepare for it. It is said to have the best hot springs around!" Prince Zuko sighed nodded.

"Very well uncle." Zuko smiled inwardly. He could use some relaxation. Yet he only frowned on the outside and closed his door. Slowly, the young prince held out his hand and watched as flames jumped out and danced above his palm. He smirked. He would have to spar with his uncle soon and prove that he was a master.

* * *

Katara sighed happily as she sank into the hot water. On the ship they had to use sea water to bath. It wasn't sensible to use up their clean water. True, if she really wanted to, she could remove the salt but then again, she didn't want to spend that much effort on bathing. After all, she usually was tired when she bathed. She smiled as she began to wash her hair. It was hard to get truly clean with sea water. But with the fresh water from the hot springs, it was no problem at all.

**Snap!**

Katara looked around, surprised when she heard a twig snap. She screamed when she saw who stepped out of the woods with a towel draped over his shoulder and was only wearing pants and sandals and was looking back at the woods while he brushed off some leaves.

"Huh?" Zuko looked over to see Katara covering herself up. "Shi-" He moved to turn around but before he had successfully turned around, a stream of water smacked him across the cheek. However, Zuko did not turn back to glare or snap at Katara. His face was red, either from the water smacking him or embarrassment, he did not know.

"What were you doing!" Katara shrieked, making the young prince wince.

"I-I thought-I-SORRY!" Zuko stammered out. Never in his life had he been so embarrassed. Embarrassed for her and because of the situation. Zuko headed straight for the woods, planning on finding some other hot springs and hoping that his uncle never heard of what had just happened. He would never hear the end of it.

* * *

Katara blushed throughout dinner and Zuko said nothing while adverting his eyes. Iroh was quite put off by this. He knew something happened. He just didn't know what. And it was driving him mad.

"For the love of Agni, what is wrong with you two!" Iroh had reached his limit. He watched as Zuko stiffened and bore a hold into his bowl of rice while Katara turned even redder and tensed up.

". . . . I would like you to see if I have reached the level of master, uncle." Iroh frowned, annoyed that Zuko had changed the subject to something he couldn't brush off.

"I know you have made leaps and bounds lately, but do you honestly believe yourself to have mastered firebending?" Zuko looked up at his elder.

"I'm not at the level you or my father are on, but I know all the sets and I am confident that I have mastered my flame." Iroh sighed warily and nodded while Katara looked on in curiosity.

"Very well, but you must give it your all and be satisfied with the outcome."

* * *

Yumi watched Aang carefully as he spoke with Bumi.

"And she'll be teaching me firebending." Aang finished and pointed at Yumi. King Bumi looked up at her and studied her for a moment.

"Forgive me for asking this but I must; why did you leave the Fire Nation and join the Avatar?"Yumi pulled her cloak's hood back to reveal soft black hair up in a ponytail to the side and pitch black eyes that made her hair look dusty. She was very young looking, almost as if she had just rid herself of her baby fat.

"Simple. Thanks to the Fire Lord, I lost my best student, my prized pupil. For that alone I will bring down the Fire Lord. Not to mention he is destroying the Fire Nation. He no longer serves the nation. Rather he has it serve him. That is something I cannot allow to go on. So I join the Avatar to avenge my prize pupil and save the Fire Nation as well as the other nations." Sokka narrowed his eyes in confusion.

"Wait . . . wouldn't Aang be considered your prized pupil? He is the Avatar after all!" Yumi smiled softly and nodded.

"This is very true. But it is also true that he is already a master firebender. All I am doing is awakening the power that sleeps inside of him, bringing back the bending skills that he has hidden deep inside of him. How can he truly be my prize pupil if I am not truly teaching him anything new?" Sokka scratched his head in confusion before shrugging.

"Sounds good to me." Aang looked up at Yumi.

"So who was your prize pupil?" Yumi had a distant look on her face.

"That . . . is a long story, young Avatar."

* * *

"Good. You have mastered all the sets." Sweat poured down Zuko's face as he watched his uncle sip tea while Katara sat with the old man stared at her tea. "But . . . . I sense you are still holding back." Iroh stood up.

"I've mastered the sets. I've proven that I can control my flame. What more do I need to finally become a master?" Iroh sighed and nodded.

"I admit that you are the rank of master. However . . . . one day I would like to see you fight without holding back." Zuko smirked and shrugged.

"Maybe someday, Uncle. But I'm a master now." Iroh sighed once more and smiled.

"Yes. I must write your father and tell him." Katara noticed Zuko flinch slightly at the mention of his father. If Iroh noticed, he did not say anything. The old man excused himself and left as Prince Zuko glanced at Katara. She was quite as she stared at him.

"Girl, I did not-" He started but Katara cut him off.

"Katara." He looked at her confused.

"What?"

"My name is Katara. Not girl, not wench, and certainly not any other name you can think off!" She snapped, making Prince Zuko look away.

"Listen, gi-Katara . . . . I did not mean to walk in on you." She was silent and Zuko glanced back up at her, curious as to why she didn't say anything.

". . . just forget it." She didn't know why she said it, nor did Zuko. But she did. And it was too late to take back her words. She would have to live with them.

"Very well." He started to walk away when he paused and looked back at her. She was looking down at her tea. He wanted to say something but refrained from saying anything. He walked away, glad for many things. Glad he was a master before Zula, glad he had done something to make his father proud, glad he could finally get some rest now that he was a master, glad that he had remembered Hellfire's teachings . . . . even a little bit glad that the girl had forgiven him.

* * *

"_. . . . . Hellfire . . . ." Prince Zuko stared out a window and he felt the ever present shadow in his life come to stand behind him._

"_Yes, my Prince?" _

"_. . . . do you ever wonder . . . ." He trailed off as he watched the sun set. The darkness was moving in quickly, as if to try and beat back the light._

"_Wonder what, Prince Zuko?" _

"_. . . . if I'm worth the effort." The young boy felt a hand on his shoulder and was pulled back into a hug._

"_Where would you get the idea that you are not worth the effort?"_

"_Father says Zula was born lucky, he says I was lucky to be born." The grip on him tightened as Hellfire held him close._

"_Listen closely, my dear prince . . . you are gifted in ways Zula will never be. Not even your father is able to learn my special techniques. You are the only person I have ever met that has been able to learn them. You were born under my power."_

"_Under your power?" He repeated, confused. He felt her nod._

"_Yes. You were born on the anniversary of when my father sent me here to the Fire Nation. It is said to be a cursed date, for you are the only baby to have ever been born on that day since I came" Zuko pulled away and looked into her black eyes as she stayed in the shadows. He opened his mouth to ask a question but was cut off as Hellfire shoved him to the ground and covered his body with hers as arrows filled her back. Blood poured down onto him as she held him close and glared up at the Earth Kingdom archers. She moved Prince Zuko so that he was behind her as she stood. "You will **not**__hurt my student." She hissed as she watched them shot more arrows towards the two. She waved her arm in front of her and the arrows burst into flames. "Prince Zuko." Her whispered, her tone light. "Watch closely as I show you how my techniques work in battle." With that she disappeared from in front of him and reappeared in front of the archers. _

Prince Zuko jerked awake, covered in sweat. He remembered that fight. No . . . slaughter was more like it. He had been slightly afraid of Hellfire when she finished. But he did not show it. His father would not approve of his fear. What scared him the most was when Hellfire walked back to him, still having the arrows in her back but not paying any attention to the arrows. It was then that he had realized how safe he was with her. If she could do that, then maybe she could have done anything. That was his line of thinking at the time. Now . . . . now he just wanted to see the woman who he thought of as a mother. Zuko stood up and threw a robe on. He quickly strode down the hallways and found himself on deck.

"Oh! You're still awake!" He blinked in surprise and looked over at Katara. She had an orb of water floating above her hand. _'She was practicing . . .'_ Zuko thought silently.

"What are you doing out here, practicing so late at night?" The prince asked with a monotone voice. He didn't want to reveal that he was still shaken at the memory. It seemed that all his memories of Hellfire were surfacing lately. His uncle and father had almost made him forget about her completely. But for some reason, he just couldn't get his mother figure out of his head.

" . . . . . I didn't want to bother anyone." She floated the water over the side of the railing and let go of her grasp on it.

". . . ." Zuko turned to go back in when her voice stopped him.

"You flinched." He turned and gazed at her with confusion. "When your uncle mentioned writing to your father." Katara watched him tense. "What happened?"

"That is none of your business, Katara." He hissed as his eyes hardened. She did not frown, only keeping a neutral gaze on him. After being on the ship for a short while, she knew that when Prince Zuko started to clam up, she had to stay neutral.

"I'm just worried. Forgive me for trying to help." Zuko scoffed at the idea of her being worried.

"No one is worried about anyone in this world. If you try to help, it gets thrown back in your face. That is the real world, Katara. It is best if you do not bother with others. It will only bring pain." He moved again to leave but once more her words stopped him.

"Is that what happened to you? Is that how you got that scar?" He turned around, his temper flaring.

"That is none of your business!" He snapped as Katara tilted her head to the side in confusion.

"Your uncle talks about you when you were young." The change of topic threw him. He lost his rage and stared at her in confusion. "You seemed to have been a happy child. What happened?" He shook with silent rage.

"Do not push me Katara." He hissed dangerously. Prince Zuko turned his back on her and walked away.

* * *

Sorry if took so long for me to update. Yeah . . . . I'm having some writer's block. Plus, I'm having a hard time trying to figure out how to hook these two up. So if you have an idea, share it with me. If you have anything to say, review and tell me! Thank you! 


	8. Talent

Talent

"Thank you." Yumi whispered as she stepped into her room. She looked around as the door of rock slid shut. Nothing but a bed, a vanity, and a dresser. The firebending master dropped her pack onto the bed and removed her cloak to reveal rolled down boots over netted leggings. A pair of short black shorts were covered by a pale brown skirt with a slit up the side. The shirt she was wearing was a paler brown, almost tan color. It was a sleeveless turtle neck. She had several belts around her waist. Under the shirt she wore another shirt, this one a netted long sleeve shirt that had its sleeves tucked under her gloves.

Yumi turned to the mirror and frowned when something caught her eye. Almost as if it were fabric, a tiny patch of skin hung limp, partly torn from the rest of her skin. A new color was introduced on her pale skin; a pale peach. It was a small and on her cheek. Almost impossible to notice right away if one was not looking for it. The dark haired woman used her pinky finger to push that skin up, back over the new colored skin and she watched with a smirk as the edges glowed for a moment before mending themselves. The color was gone.

* * *

Zuko walked down the halls with a satisfied smirk. Next time he saw the Avatar . . . .

"What are you so happy about?" Zuko glanced behind him to see Katara coming out of her room. The young prince turned to face her. It had been nearly two weeks since he had become a master.

"I still can't believe that you told us where the Avatar is going." The waterbender frowned at his change of subject. However she answered him just the same.

"I told you because I want to see Aang and talk to him again. Besides," It was her turn to smirk. "I doubt you'll be able to beat him." Zuko narrowed his eyes and was about to reply when his uncle came out of nowhere and cut him off.

"Ah! Katara, thank you for informing us where to go. We are only a few days away from Omashu. You should be seeing the young Avatar and your brother shortly."

"And that woman Yumi." Katara sighed as she looked at Iroh. An idea suddenly struck her. "Do you know of a female firebending master who defected from the Fire Nation?" Iroh stiffened. Both the young teenagers noticed it.

"Ah, is has been so long since I've been in the Fire Nation and paid attention to anything political." With that said he quickly left. Katara looked over at Zuko.

"Why did he stiffen?" Zuko turned away as Hellfire entered his mind. That was the only woman he knew of that did not agree with the Fire Lord and left.

"No clue." He lied and left her. Katara crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes. She glared at him as he walked away. Something was going on. Both Iroh and Zuko knew something, that much was sure. With a shake of her head and a sigh, she made her way up to the deck. She frowned as she stared up at the night sky. The moon was shining brightly down on her.

_'Yue.'_ She thought sadly. She barely knew the girl. They had spent time together, true, but they only knew alittle about each other. Yet she was still sad to see the girl give up her life for the moon spirit. Katara felt her mind drift back to the time spent at the North Pole.

"Are you thinking about her?" Katara looked back, surprised to see Zuko standing only a few feet behind her.

"What are you doing? Didn't I just see you?" Zuko frowned.

"It's been nearly half a hour since we last spoke. You must have lost track of time." He turned his attention back to the moon. "Now answer my question. My uncle told me about some girl giving up her life for the moon spirit." Katara planted her fists on her hips and turned to him.

"She wasn't some girl! She was the Water Nation's princess." Snapped the waterbender. Zuko shrugged.

"So? Do you really think I care? I didn't know her. And I've learned not to care for people I don't know." Katara let her arms drop to her side as she stared at him from the side while he looked up at the moon. For a moment Katara blushed. She never realized how handsome he was. Even with the scar . . . .

"Is that how you . . . ." Zuko turned sharp eyes to her.

"My uncle sent me to get you for dinner. If we take any longer he'll start without us." He ended the conversation with those harsh words as he turned to leave.

"Why do you do that?" Zuko glanced at her.

"Do what?" His tone was cold to her, making Katara frowned.

"You're such a jerk!" She turned her back to him.

"Are you coming or not?" Katara bit the inside of her cheek.

_'I can't believe I thought he was handsome!'_

"Fine!" Katara snapped and marched pass the prince down below deck. Prince Zuko frowned, slightly saddened that she was mad at him. But he knew that if he hadn't acted the way he did then she would snoop around in his past.

* * *

Iroh wanted to bang his head against a wall. Because that would be better than this dinner! The two were silent as the dead. They avoided all contact with each other. And he was the only one trying to talk. It was driving him _insane_!

". . . . . oh for the love of all that is right, what is wrong!" Katara looked at him surprised and Zuko barely glanced at him. She turned her eyes down at the rice she was eating and folded her hands neatly in her lap. Iroh, noticing how uncomfortable Katara had become, pounced. "Katara, you can tell me anything. I'm like a vault, whatever it is, it's safe with me!" He beamed and Zuko snorted in disagreement. Katara snapped her eyes up and glared at Zuko.

"Jerk!" Zuko looked up at her and met her glare with a fierce one of his own.

"Peasant!" Iroh watched them toss insults back and forth.

"Idiot!"

"Ditz!"

"Scum!"

"Fool!"

"That's it!" Katara screamed as she picked up the rice and hurled it at Zuko. The prince moved his head to the side and watched as it whizzed right by him.

"You can't even throw!" He mocked as he picked up his own rice. Iroh slowly backed out of the room as what was late dubbed by the crew as the food slaughter.

* * *

"You . . . . are . . . . still . . . . a . . . . . jerk!" Katara panted as she laid on the ground with Zuko straddling her and holding her arms above her head. She was covered in rice, fish, wine, and some kind of pudding. Zuko had some rice and pudding specks on him, but other than that, he was clean. He smirked.

"No. I am a prince. Therefore, I have more manners than a barbaric peasant such as yourself." She screamed and kicked and hollered but he did not budge. "Are you done yet?"

"You pig!" She yelled at him. Zuko was about to respond when a searing pain entered his head. He let go of her hands and grabbed his head. Crying out in pain, Zuko's vision faded and he collapsed on top of Katara.

* * *

Yumi sighed and glanced at Aang over the railing she was standing behind. She was bored. Bored, bored bored. The boy goofed off at every chance he got. He was more interested at learning a few fancy tricks than mastering the hard discipline needed for him to become an expert firebending master. Her cold black eyes narrowed as he watched him practice against the Earth King, Bumi. The two were having a ball.

"So, how close are we to winning this war?" Yumi glanced over as Sokka came and stood next to her.

". . . . he is more interested in learning flashy moves than true Firebending." Sokka frowned and glared at her.

"Hey, you're being alittle hard on him." She merely glanced at him again.

"My old student was only coming out of his baby years and yet he had already mastered for more than the Avatar." She watched as Bumi ended the lesson and made his way up onto the railed area that Yumi and Sokka were arguing in.

"Geez, you're always comparing him to this old student of yours! Aang's the Avatar. He's got more talent than anyone else." Her face was emotionless as she jumped up onto the railing.

"My old student was the only student who could learn everything I have to teach." She glanced back at Bumi and Sokka. "Let me show you what he mastered in only two weeks, whereas Aang still has trouble with this after a month." She flipped down off the railing and tucked her knees under her chin and flipped around in the air down onto the ground. Fire spun out all around her as she moved through the air. As the last moment she pulled herself out of the small ball and slammed her hands onto the ground as she landed in a crouch. A ring of fire spread out from her landing point and continued to spread for a minute until she canceled the energy she was putting into the fire and let it die. She stood up and looked at Aang. "Avatar, if you are to have a chance against Ozai . . . not only will you need my help, but you will need to stop goofing off!" She marched past him. "Until you master what I've shown you, I will teach you no more. No matter how talented you may be."

* * *

Katara watched Zuko's chest rise and fall with his steady breathing. He was in his bed, sleeping. A wet cloth was on his forehead.

"Do the doctors know what happened?" She asked the older man Zuko called uncle. Iroh sighed and shook his head.

"No. Until Prince Zuko wakes, I do not think we will ever know." She nodded and looked back at Iroh.

"You go rest, I will look after him." The older man nodded and left while she put the cloth into some cold water. She put the wet cloth on to his forehead and rested her head on her arms on the side of his bed. "Zuko . . . . wake up."

* * *

Sorry it took so long. Writer's block. :( Anyway, tell me what you think, please. It helps me. And sometimes you make me laugh or give me ideas. Thanks for reading. 


	9. Dreams

Dreams

"_Prince Zuko . . ." _The firebending prince looked around when her voice White fog was everywhere.

"Hellfire?" He looked around for her but could only see fog invading his vision.

"_My dear Prince Zuko . . . . ."_ The prince of fire called out when he heard her again.

"Where are you?" His voice echoed all around.

"_. . ."_ No one answered. Prince Zuko looked around frantically, trying to find her. But all he saw was fog. A blinding white fog.

"Where are you, Hellfire?" He tried once more. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, she responded.

"_You need to wake up, my prince. I have much planned for you."_ With those words ringing in his ears, he felt his mind be thrown from . . . . wherever he was. His eyes snapped open and the dim light danced across the steel ceiling. He felt a heavy blanket on top of him and a pillow underneath his head. The young prince turned his head to the side when he heard a soft breathing. Katara was on the side of his bed, her arms crossed and used as a pillow as she sat in a chair beside his bed. After a minute of staring at her in surprise and shock, the girl began to stir. She opened her sapphire blue eyes and looked up at his golden ones. Zuko realized how pretty she was and wondered why he didn't notice it before. It took a a few seconds before she realized that he was awake and smiled.

"I'll get your uncle. He's been worried about you." She stood up and moved to leave but his voice stopped her.

"What were you doing?" His voice was a tad raw from lack of use. She looked at him, slightly confused at what he meant.

"I fell asleep." Zuko shook his head and sat up. He noticed a damp cloth fall into his lap but her paid no attention.

"Why were you beside my bed?" He clarified. She sighed and shook her own head at him.

"I was being nice."

"People aren't just nice for no reason." Zuko snapped, startling her. She glared at him and turned to the door, yanking it open.

"I'll go get your uncle. Why he cares is beyond me!" She slammed the door behind her and Zuko winced at the loud sound. His head ached. He didn't know if it was from that confusing girl or his strange dream.

"You're awake!" The next thing Zuko knew was that his bones were cracking from the fierce hug his uncle caught him in.

"Uncle-" Zuko wheezed. "Air!"

"Oh!" Iroh let go of his nephew and took a deep breath as he looked Zuko over. "I'm just so happy that you are awake. You collapsed on top of our lovely waterbender." Zuko rolled his eyes as Iroh smiled.

"I didn't do anything. She's a waterbender and I'm a firebender." Iroh raised an eyebrow.

"So?" Zuko glared up at his uncle.

"Old man, you are getting carried away." He muttered as he shook his head. Zuko stood up and looked at his uncle once more. "How long have I been asleep?" Iroh frowned at how his nephew would not take time to rest. Or explain what happened. Looks like once more, Iroh would have to pry it out of him.

"Prince Zuko, what happened?" Zuko pressed his lips together in a thin line, refusing to answer.

"How long, Uncle?" The young prince changed the subject back to what he wanted. Iroh refrained from sighing and answered him.

"Just a night." Zuko nodded as he thought quietly.

"That's good."

"What happened? Tell me, please." Zuko shrugged.

"There was a pain in my head and then the next thing I know is that I'm waking up in bed." Iroh eyed his young nephew. There was something Zuko wasn't telling him.

"Perhaps it has something to do with that dream you had before Katara came on board." Zuko turned towards his uncle and sighed.

"Uncle . . . . it was nothing. Just the usual nightmare." Iroh frowned deeply and shook his head.

"Zuko . . . . I think of you as my own . . . . please . . . . tell me your problems as if I were not your uncle . . . . but a father." Zuko's eyes softened and he opened his mouth to answer him when he thought of how far he had come. The young fire master closed his mouth and sighed. His uncle would never understand. No one would. Zuko would be condemned if anyone found out that he had done the forbidden.

". . . . I'm sorry, Uncle. I want to . . . . . but you would never understand." Zuko turned away, unable to look his uncle in the eye. "Please leave, I need to change."

* * *

Yumi picked up a rose and sniffed it. She sighed and toss the roe out a window into the rain as the rose burst into flames.

"Aren't you going to go help Aang?" She turned to look at Sokka. He had his arms crossed and was glaring at her.

"I already told Aang that he must master what I've taught him before I teach him more."

"But how is he suppose to master fire when his teacher is burning roses!"

"Sokka!" The water tribe warrior turned to see Aang coming towards them. "What are you doing?" Sokka turned back to Yumi.

"I'm trying to get this fire jerk to understand. Aang needs to have someone to teach him fire!" He yelled at Yumi. Her black eyes flashed.

"Fine. You want me to teach Aang so badly?" She kicked out towards Aang and a blast of fire passed under him as he jumped up to avoid the fire. Before Aang could land Yumi appeared above him and brought down her heel into his shoulder. Aang cried out and landed on the ground. The last airbender leapt away from from Yumi, holding his shoulder. But Yumi wasn't through yet. She slammed her fist into the floor and a ring of fire spread out from her, much like before. But the fire grew as it ran from her. Aang's eyes widened.

_'She'll burn down the city!'_ He held out his arms, wincing slightly from the pain in his shoulder, and took control of the flames. Widening his stance, Aang grunted as he shoved the fire back to its original owner. Yumi batted it away and the fire died before it could consume anything else. The dark eyed woman smirked as she punched out at Aang, fire blasting out of her fist. Sokka could only watch from the sidelines as the two battled in the hallway.

"You remind me of my last student's sister, avatar." Yumi began to spin around quickly, letting out fire as she moved. With skill she halted suddenly and the fire spun out, nearly burning the avatar and Sokka. Luckily, Sokka rolled under the flames. Yumi held her hands out in front of her and fire came alive above her fists. "She was a firebending prodigy. But what I had to teach she could not master. She had too much pride and was more interested in flashy moves than real work." Yumi's smirk deepened. "Now, excuse me while I slip into something more terrifying." Fire roared to life as it consumed her. The fire spread up and over the walls and a large fire rose up from where Yumi had been standing. It took a shape of Yumi and let out a roar.

"Holy-" The fire Yumi moved it mouth and cut off Sokka as her voice came out of the fire.

"**Now listen to me, you little brat!**" Her voice boomed, fire running up the walls. By that time, Bumi and several guards had arrived. "**This is your one and only warning! So listen well! I am not someone you want to piss off! I am not here because I think you'll be great. I am not here because I think you are the only solution. I am here because my student's life hangs in the balance. So I will not permit you to fool around when someone great such as he is in danger from the Fire Lord!**" All of the fire flew back to the original spot, the spot Yumi had been standing in. As the fire retracted it could be seen that nothing was burned. It died and Yumi stood there. In an instant she spun around and marched away.

"Yumi-" Aang started but was cut off.

"I won't give you another chance, Avatar. If you are to save the world," Yumi glanced back at him, her dark eyes cold. "then you must prove yourself worthy to be the Avatar." With that she was gone.

* * *

"_What are your dreams, Hellfire?" The woman gave off a small laugh._

"_Such a thought provoking question from one so young. Perhaps you should worry more on that trick I taught you." The young Zuko laughed._

"_I don't want to burn down the gardens." He could feel her smirk as he took a deep breath and looked up at the night sky._

"_Once you get to the level I want you at, you won't burn anything other than air. It is difficult, and somewhat dangerous, but I know you'll be able to do it." Zuko looked back as Hellfire as she sat under the sakura tree._

"_Hellfire, what are your dreams?" He repeated. There was a long pause, long enough that he looked over at her._

"_. . . . to return home, little one."_

With a sigh, Zuko shook his head clear. It was drizzling lightly and it was in the middle of the night. All day he had been barking out orders to him men, making sure that they would get to Omashu soon. After all, he had a ship to run. He had to keep going on.

"You really hurt his feelings, you know." Zuko turned around to see Katara standing behind him with a glare and her arms crossed.

"Leave me be."

"He won't say anything, and acts happy, but you hurt Iroh's feelings." Steam rose from his damp skin.

"Listen, I don't have to explain myself to you." He stormed pass Katara and below deck. The waterbender followed him.

"I'm not gonna let you walk all over that sweet man!" Zuko ignored her and stormed down to his room. He swung the door behind him, but Katara managed to slip into the room before the door closed.

"Get out!" Zuko yelled.

"You can't order me around!" Narrowing his eyes, Zuko grabbed her by the upper arm. However, Katara yanked her arm out of his grasp. "Why won't you tell him?" She demanded quietly.

"It is none of your business."

"Why?"

"Why do you care?" Zuko challenged her. Katara glared at the banished prince.

"Because he is a kind man. And he deserves some answers." Zuko closed his eyes and shook his head.

"My uncle would never understand." Katara's gaze softened somewhat.

"Why not?" Zuko looked up at her sharply.

"Why should I tell you?" He snapped, causing her to frown.

". . . . for some reason . . . . your uncle cares deeply for you. I don't understand why. But then again . . . ." She smiled lightly. "I don't understand why I like you." Zuko stared at her, floored by her softly spoken words. She liked him . . . . Zuko tried to form words but nothing came out. He stepped back and shook his head in disbelief. Before he could do anything else, Katara was gone.

* * *

Well, sorry it took so long to get it done. I was trying to get this to come out right and I had writer's block. Sucky combination, huh? Well, I hope I kept everyone in character. Sorry if the ending was a little OOC with Katara. But, as you can guess, the real Zutara starts now! Please review and tell me what you think. Give me ideas too. With the writer's block, ideas aren't coming that easily. Don't worry, if I use anyone's idea I'll give them credit. 


	10. Belief

Belief

Zuko stood there, damp from the rain, with a look of utmost surprise on his face. He didn't know how long he stood there. He just new that it was for awhile.

"Prince Zuko. . . . ?" Iroh waved a hand in front of Zuko's shocked face. ". . . . anyone in there?" Nothing. A blink every once in awhile but nothing else. Iroh had come in when his nephew absence had been noted and commented on. When he asked Katara if she new anything, she got all quiet and said she saw him last in his room. ". . . . Zuko?" Iroh grabbed his nephew by the shoulders and shook him. That seemed to snap him out of the trance. Knocking away his uncle's hands, Zuko stormed out of the room, leaving a very confused and baffled Iroh in his wake.

* * *

Katara was sitting quietly on her bed when the door slammed open, startling her. Zuko was livid. He shut the door behind him and glared at her.

"What the hell was that?" Katara stared at him, confused.

"What are you talking about?"

"Don't try to mess with me, alright?" Zuko yelled.

"What are you talking about!" Katara repeated, frustrated.

"You know what I'm talking about!" He snapped. Realizing what he meant, Katara looked away, slightly embarrassed.

"Listen, I wasn't trying to mess with you, alright." She whispered quietly, praying that no one would find out what she had said. Zuko was quiet, trying to figure out what to do.

". . . . did my uncle set you up to this?" Katara shook her head as she stared at the floor. ". . . . . then . . . . why?"

". . . . I don't know." She answered softly, causing Zuko to frown.

"Are you sure?" She crossed her arms as she glared up at him.

"What?" She growled out, annoyed.

"I'm a firebender, you're a waterbender. I'm a prince, you're a peasant. We are complete opposites. We'd never work." Zuko muttered shaking his head.

". . . . do you like me?" Katara asked him, startling him.

"I'm a prince!" He responded, shocked.

"What does that have to do with anything. It is a simple question. Do you like me?" Zuko glared at her.

"Just because you're pretty doesn't mean I like you." He snapped, causing Katara to smile.

"You think I'm pretty?" Zuko blinked and realized that he slipped up. A faint blush crossed his face as he sputtered out a reply.

"D-don't change the subject!" He looked away from her smiling eyes.

"You like me." It was a simple statement that was whispered softly. Zuko scoffed and stormed out of the room, bent on taking his frustration out in training.

* * *

Yumi looked up at Bumi as he sat on his chair. The guards had been sent out to give Yumi and King Bumi some privacy as they talked.

"That was quite an impressive display of firebending." Bumi frowned. "I've only heard of one woman who bends fire the way you do. And she was cast out of the Fire Nation." The dark eyed woman stared up at the king with no emotion on her face. The old man watched her carefully. Those pitch black eyes of hers seemed to suck in every last thing. And in some way, it scared the old man. He knew that her display of firebending was only a fraction of her power. She had never lost control and she didn't seem like the type of person who would go all out when they weren't in a life and death situation.

Finally, after what seemed liked an eternity, the young woman spoke.

". . . . what are you getting at?" Bumi pondered her question for a moment. What _was_ he getting at? The truth for one, but she already knew that.

"Are you _her_?" Yumi remained emotionless while she looked up at the old man. Even though she was looking up at him, he had the feeling that she was truly looking down on him and everyone like him. Not just earthbenders. Firebenders were included in that.

"You dare not speak my name?" She smirked, finally showing something other than emptiness on her face and eyes. "Funny. Even those who are the enemies of the Fire Nation hate me."

"You protected the Fire Nation. What did you expect?" Silence hung in the air. It was her turn to think. But whatever thoughts entered her head were not voiced. She only chose to stay silent. "Why are you helping the Avatar?"

"I already explained why." Bumi's frown deepened.

"That seems to be correct. But I doubt that is the only reason." Yumi closed her eyes and nodded.

"You are correct in doubting. I have been here long enough. I wish to go home now. The Avatar is my ticket home, back with my father."

"Like Prince Zuko?" She raised an eyebrow. "Oh yes, I have heard of the banished prince of the Fire Nation. His only way home is to bring the Avatar to his father. Do you have any idea how many assassins have been sent after him? Even if he is banished, he still is the prince of the Fire Nation." Now it was Bumi's turn to smirk, a strange expression on his face. "Strange thing is, only a few got to him. Do you have any idea why that is?" Yumi was silent for a moment before her clear voice rang through the thick air, barely above a whisper.

"Haven't a clue."

* * *

"How long has he been training?" Katara looked back to see Iroh coming onto the deck. It had long since stopped drizzling and the moon was out. She had been sitting on a crate and was quietly watching as Zuko trained. He only seemed to train even harder with her watching him.

"A few hours."

"Ah." Iroh watched Katara look up at the moon. The fire from Zuko's bending roared as he punched and kick. ". . . . . do not worry." Katara looked back at Iroh confused.

"What are you talking about?" Iroh just smiled at her and patted her on the shoulder.

"Prince Zuko does things when something new happens and he does not know how to react. Once he is done sorting this out everything will work out." Katara looked back at Zuko.

"What makes you so sure?" The older man smiled and patted her shoulder before he took off and threw his answer over his shoulder.

"Call it a gut feeling."

* * *

No one else was on deck but the two of them. Zuko could feel her there. There was something about her that he couldn't place his finger on. Something that drew him to her. Maybe it was her eyes. Blue for an eye color was not something that belonged to the Fire Nation. It gave her a . . . . different look. Or maybe it was her tanned skin. In the Fire Nation, everyone had such light colored skin. That could be it. It could be any number of things that drew him to her. There was so much about her.

Zuko shook his head. He had to get her out of his mind. She haunted him for some reason.

"Aren't you tried yet?" Zuko glanced behind him to see Katara.

"I've gone without sleep before." She shook her head and held in a sigh. He still didn't get it.

"That's not what I meant." Zuko turned and faced Katara.

"Then what did you mean?" She looked up into his amber eyes. Zuko almost felt himself get lost in those eyes. But he pulled back at the last second. He couldn't get lost. There was no way that it would be acceptable for a prince to fall for a peasant.

"Of holding everything in?" Turning his back on her, Zuko gave out a harsh laugh.

"What would waterbender know about a firebender?" Katara narrowed her eyes and held in a scathing retort. She couldn't chase him away. She had to get him open up to her. It was the only way. For some strange reason she liked him and did not want to see him break.

"I know that you can't hold in everything. I know that trying to is hard." Zuko began to walk away from her. The waterbender bit her lip as she thought frantically of a way to get him to open up to her. Perhaps . . .

"I lost my mother when I was young." Zuko stopped dead in his tracks. Why was she telling him this? "I lost her in a Fire Nation raid on our village." Katara reached up and held her mother's necklace.

". . . . ." Zuko didn't know what to say. He wanted to apologize but it wasn't him. He didn't do anything. His words would not change anything. His words would not ease the pain. He could do nothing. It was a cold hard fact. One he had learned a long time ago.

". . . . I know what it's like to lose someone close to you. My father left to fight in the war." _His father's war_ he added mentally. It was his father's war that her own father was fighting in. "It hurts. It hurts a lot. And it is hard keeping everything inside. It eats at you. It isn't safe. Because if you don't have anyone to talk to . . . . it turns every memory into something you hate because you don't want to remember. And sooner or later . . . . you forget. But that's what will hurt the most." Katara fought to hold in the tears. She squeezed her eyes shut and tried not to cry. So it startled her when she felt two strong arms pull her forward into a hug.

"Promise me . . ." Katara looked up to see Zuko staring off into space over her head. ". . . . promise me that what I'm about to tell you . . . you don't repeat to anyone." Katara felt him let her go as he took a step back.

"I promise that I won't." Zuko looked her dead in the eyes.

"I have your word?"

"Yes." He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Silence hung in the air as he thought about what he was going to tell her.

". . . I lost my mother when I was four. I only have an idea what she looked like. I've tried to hold onto the memory of who she was. But I can't. The most I think she looked like is from a portrait of when she was young. Before she married my father." He opened his eyes and looked over the railing at the sea. ". . . . but there was a woman . . . . who treated me like I was her son." Katara watched him carefully. He was struggling to tell her this. It meant a great deal that he would tell her this. It appeared that he hadn't told anyone this. "She wasn't fake like all the other people in the court. She didn't try to use me like some many people tried." Zuko looked back at Katara, his eyes softer. ". . . . she was my teacher. She was very powerful. I thought she could do anything. She protected me against assassins . . . . she taught me how to fight . . . . she even comforted me when I was in pain." Zuko smiled to himself alittle as he remembered her.

"What happened to her?" A frown worked its way onto his lips.

"I don't know. One day . . . my father and uncle just chased her away. I never knew what happened to her. No one would tell me." Katara was quite, unsure of how to respond. After a moment, she became curious.

"What was her name?" A brief smile touched his lips.

"Hellfire."

* * *

Yumi pulled the out the hair tie that kept her pony tail to the side. Her dusty black hair fell down, lifeless.

". . . . Master Yumi?" She heard Aang's voice through the stone door. Because she could not Earthbend she had a heavy stone door. The firebender stood up and walked to the door. She pushed it open the door and stared down at the air monk.

"Yes, Aang?" Aang looked up at her with hope in his eyes.

"I think I've mastered what you've taught me so far." Yumi stepped out of the room and started to walk down the hallway.

"Very well, show me." Aang beamed as he ran ahead of her to the training area. Yumi watched him without expressing her emotion but on the inside her cold, calculating mind was busy worrying.

_'Where is he? She should have brought them here by now!'_ Yumi stopped and stood at the railings. Aang began to go through basic firebending sets. She could barely keep her frown off of her face. _'If he is not here soon, then I will have put too much faith in the girl **and** in him.'

* * *

_

"Hellfire?" Repeated Katara and Zuko nodded in answer to her.

"A strange name, I know. But she wasn't normal, that's for sure." Katara lifted an eyebrow.

"What do you mean?" Zuko turned his gaze up to the moon.

"Many believe Hellfire was some vengeful spirit taken human form from the very fires of hell. Some believe that she was a demon. Others believe that Hellfire was some kind of witch. There are those who even believe that Hellfire was a fire sprite." Katara tilted her head to the side slightly and watched him for a few minutes. Zuko had walked to the railing and stared at the moon while resting his hands on the railing. After deciding to test the waters once more, she asked another question.

"And what do you believe?" Zuko slowly turned his gaze to her. After a moment, he smiled softly again as he recalled Hellfire.

"I believe that it doesn't matter how she came to be or where she's really from. I believe that one day, I'll see Hellfire again. And that's all that matters." Katara smiled softly at Zuko.

"I think you're right. It doesn't matter where a person came from. All that matters is what they do with their life." Katara came to stand beside Zuko.

"But . . . . the world does not share my views." Sighing, Zuko looked down at the dark waters beneath the ship.

"I never thought you were one to care what the world thinks. If you did, then why care about Hellfire so much?" Zuko smirked and was about to retort when his eyes fell upon her. The moonlight seemed to hit her just right, giving her an angelic glow. His heart sped up. Zuko leaned in close to her. Katara tilted her head up as he came closer and closer to her. Her eyes slowly closed as did his. Katara felt his lips pressed against hers gently. After a few seconds he slowly pulled back and the two teens slowly opened the eyes. A blush adorn Katara's cheeks as Zuko adverted his eyes. Zuko looked back at her after a few minutes. He felt his heart speed up again. She looked even lovelier when she blushed.

". . . . I shouldn't have done that." He whispered quietly. Katara looked up at him, confused.

"Why not?" She asked softly.

". . . . . I did not ask if you wanted to be kissed." Zuko replied as quiet as before with a dazed look in his eyes. Katara smiled.

"Then I will have to do the same to you." Katara stood on her tiptoes and kissed him lightly on the lips. Zuko smirked as she pulled away. Zuko leaned in close to her and whispered into her ear.

"It's late. You should go to bed." Katara nodded, as if in a daze, and watched Prince Zuko walk away from her. A hand reached up and her fingertips brushed against her lips for a brief second before she hurried back to her room.

* * *

Hey! Sorry it took so long to update. Please tell me your thoughts and ideas. You might be right. Plus, if you notice something wrong, tell me so that I can go back and fix it. Thank you for reading and please review. 


	11. Betrayed

Betrayed

"Good, Aang." Yumi complemented the young monk as she dodged a wave of fire. "You are getting better." Aang smiled as he landed on the ground but his smile was knocked off when a blast of fire knocked him back onto the ground. "I never said we were done." Yumi smirked as she pulled her fist back to her side while punching out with the other and taking a step forward while doing so. Aang rolled out of the way and flipped onto his feet. He leaned back and avoided a blast of fire that came from one of Yumi's kicks. Aang flipped up into the air, over another fiery blast. Aang let out fire as he tucked himself in a ball and flipped behind Yumi. When he landed behind the mysterious woman, the Avatar slammed his fist into the ground and fire spread out. However, Yumi had turned and brought up a shield of fire, blocking the young Avatar's flames. "That's enough." Aang stood up, breathing heavy but held a smile on his face. Yumi stared at him blankly.

"How did I do?" He asked her eagerly. Yumi turned and began to walk away.

"Soon enough, you'll be an advance student." She threw over her shoulder as she left.

* * *

"Today is the day." Katara frowned as she looked up from the Pai Sho game she and Iroh were playing.

"What are you talking about?" Zuko glanced at her as he walked over to Lieutenant Ji.

"Today I'll capture the Avatar." Katara looked down at the game. How foolish she was. A simple kiss between the two was not enough to change his side. It wasn't enough to change anything.

"Well then," Iroh beamed at Katara. "perhaps you would like to change into something more lady like to meet with your friends?" Katara looked down at her clothes. Yes . . . perhaps she would change into a dress. Something similar to what she wore when she traveled with them. At that thought she felt something inside of her cringe with pain. She was betraying her friends. She had kissed the man who hunted Aang like an animal for no reason. She had basically handed Aang over to Zuko. She glanced back up at Zuko and saw him advert his eyes from her.

"I think you're right." Katara replied to Iroh as she stood. "If you'll excuse me, I'll go find something nice to wear." With that she was gone. Walking down the hallway, Katara let her head drop and stared at the ground. She sighed and hurried her pace so that she would reach her room quickly. When she did reach her room, she locked the door behind her.

". . . . . how can I betray them? I can't fall for Zuko, I can't!" She muttered to herself as she when she went through the clothes. Katara pulled off the clothes she had been wearing and decided to wear some of the nicer clothes Iroh had gotten her. She hadn't wanted to seem stuck up so she had stuck with the simple clothes. But now she wanted to look pretty. For Sokka and Aang. Not for Prince Zuko. No, Katara could not want to look pretty for him.

A smile reached Katara face as she realized that Iroh had gotten her mostly blue, but also an array of colors had she decided to wear something else. Katara pulled on the black silk pants and light blue long sleeved shirt. Over the blue shirt she pulled on a silk midnight blue Chinese styled sleeveless shirt. On the silk Chinese shirt there were golden vines sewn in all over with tiny green leaves sprouting off of them. The waterbender slipped her feet into another pair of black silk shoes. Undoing her hair from the braid and bun, Katara began to brush it. Her thoughts wondered to a certain prince she had a crush on. The same prince she shared her first kiss with.

A knocking on her door brought her out of her thoughts. Katara put the brush down and walked over to the door. Unlocking it, Katara pulled it open to see Zuko.

"May I come in?" She nodded dumbly as she opened the door more and moved out of the way. Zuko stepped in and Katara closed the door after him, not saying a word. She didn't know what to do. She didn't know what to say. No . . . that wasn't true. She wanted to yell at him. Curse him! Hit him! She wanted to be mad at him for going after Aang. But she couldn't. Because she cared about Zuko. "Are you alright?" Katara shrugged before she reached back behind her head and began to put her hair in its usual style. "Do you need help?" She paused in twisting her hair into a bun and stared up at Zuko in surprise.

"You know how to braid hair?" Zuko nodded.

". . . . Hellfire had long hair. Sometimes, when I was bored and there was nothing else, she'd let me put her hair up."

"Oh. Well, I guess you could help." Zuko guided her to the chair at the vanity and began to braid her hair from the bun. After a minute he was done and she looked at him through the mirror in the vanity.

"I think I like you in this outfit better than the one before. You should wear the nicer clothing."

"Really?" Zuko nodded as he let his hand rest on her shoulder.

"Yes." Silence hung thick in the air. Finally, Zuko spoke again. "You're sad." She squinted her eyes in confusion. "I can tell by your eyes."

"Oh." Zuko sighed and pondered what he should do. He kissed her twice and he did like her. And she liked him. Even though he was from the Fire Nation. What did that make them? "You're not going to stop going after Aang, are you?" He blinked in surprise and realized that he had drifted off in thought for a moment.

"I have no choice." Katara stood up and turned around, facing him with fire in her eyes.

"Bullshit! You're a prince! Of course you have a choice." Zuko glared at her.

"What would you know?" He snapped and she moved around the chair and poked chest.

"I know that it is wrong to hunt a person! I know that you don't like this war! I know that Hellfire would want you home, where your family is!"

"You know nothing!" Zuko yelled and bits of fire came out when he had thrown his arms down in his rage. "I would love to go home but I can't! Not until I have the Avatar. That is my father's word and his word is law!" Katara calmed down and stared at Zuko, trying to figure it out. But all she saw was anger and pain.

"Why would your father banish you?" She asked calmly and it upset the young prince.

". . . that is none of your concern." Zuko snapped and her stormed over to the door but Katara moved quickly and stood in his way. "Get out of the way."

"Please tell me, Zuko." Zuko looked away, ashamed and angry.

". . . I cannot." Katara reached up and caught his head in her hands and gently moved his head so he would look at her.

"Why not?" Zuko adverted his eyes from hers. He couldn't tell her. The young firebending master glanced at her and felt his heart melt.

"Please, what I did had no honor and-" Katara cut him off. The waterbender's curiosity and need to know were too great.

"Zuko." She smiled up at him. "I promise I won't be mad or disappointed or anything like that. I just want to understand." Zuko sighed and looked down into her deep blue eyes, getting lost in them. And it came out. All of it. How the guards would not let him into the war chamber. How he pleaded with his uncle to go into the war chamber. How he spoke out of term. How he was forced to duel and father. And how he begged for mercy and was scarred.

"I can't go back home until I have the Avatar. It's been two years Katara. I'm tired and I want to go home." The waterbending master smiled at Zuko and pulled him down into a hug with his head resting on her shoulder. "Katara-"

"He was wrong, Zuko." She whispered in his ear. "He was wrong." Zuko pulled out of Katara's grasp and looked down at him.

"Katara?"

"Yes?" He leaned close to her. He stopped only when he was an inch away from her.

"I'm going to kiss you now. Is that alright?" She closed her eyes and laughed softly.

"You don't have to ask to kiss me, Zuko."

"Oh. Thank you." She chuckled softly but was silenced as Zuko's lips crushed hers. This kiss was not like the first two, which could be considered pecks. This kiss held fire and passion in it. Zuko held the back of Katara's head and her waist as he kissed her and pulled her closer to him, as close as she could get to him. The young woman wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed back with as much passion as she could. Finally, the need for air broke them apart. Zuko rested his forehead against hers and smiled softly at her.

"You are strange, Zuko. But I like that."

"I also find you strange. And I also like that about you, Katara."

* * *

Yumi stared in her mirror. The skin was torn again. She bit her lip and pressed her fingers over the torn skin and made the patch of cream color disappear. A knock on the door brought her attention up, away from the mirror. The dark eyed woman silently cursed and checked herself over in the mirror to make sure there were no more tears. Another knock.

"I'm coming." She called as she scanned over her face. With a nod to herself in approval, Yumi pushed open the door. Aang was fidgeting in front of her. "Aang? What are you doing? Shouldn't you be practicing with Bumi?"

"No. Prince Zuko has caught up with us. He'll be here within the hour." Yumi nodded and stepped out of her room, hurrying after the Avatar.

_'Well, it appears I did not put too much faith in them.'_ She came to a halt as she and Aang entered the throne room.

"Aang! Yumi!" Sokka yelled when the two entered. "Prince Zuko is coming."

"I know." Aang turned his attention to Bumi. "What do you want me to do? I can fly Appa away so that he'll follow us away from the city."

"No." Bumi stood and shook his head. "We will fight the Fire Nation. You still need to work on your Earthbending skills. Besides, I'm sure that with your new Firebending and Earthbending skills you will prove that you are more than a match for him." Bumi smiled wryly at the female fire master. "And of course, you have a new ally. But . . ." Bumi sighed warily as he sat down again. "It appears that Prince Zuko has a new ally as well. Katara is with him." Aang felt his eyes widen in surprise.

"That's a lie!" Sokka shouted.

"Impudent fool! Do not call the king a liar!" A guard yelled at Sokka. The young water tribe boy glared at the soldier.

"It's a lie. My sister would never side with Prince Zuko! If she's with him, then she's got to be a captive."

"Then she's a very well dress captive with her own rhino and no bindings." Bumi snapped, quieting the young warrior.

"But . . . . why would Katara betray us like that?" Aang whispered. Yumi stepped forward and questioned to the king.

"How can you be sure it's Prince Zuko and Katara?" Bumi stared down at her with a stern gaze but she did not back down.

"We have scouts saying that the girl with Aang from when he was last here was coming with a scarred young man and a small troop of soldiers along with the famed General Iroh, Dragon of the West." Aang looked down as sorrow consumed him.

"But why? Why would she leave us for him?"

"He must have tricked her!" Sokka muttered.

"It does not mater. What matters now is stopping them." Yumi looked at Aang. "Do not allow yourself to lose yourself to emotions. You are not to give into your emotions, Aang. If you do, you are no better than the weak firebenders who are fueled by nothing but hate and anger."

"Like Prince Zuko." Sokka snapped. "He's always losing his temper and blowing up." Yumi raised an eyebrow.

"Then that will be his downfall."

* * *

Wow, I got this chapter up fast, didn't I? Well, please tell me how I'm doing. It helps me. If there are any major mess ups, telling me so I can fix it. And tell me your ideas. Sometimes you guys are right. Like in my last story, I was blown away but how right you guys can be. 


	12. Hellfire

Hellfire

"How much farther?" Zuko asked his uncle, making Iroh bite back a sigh as he pondered the question.

". . . within the hour, Prince Zuko." Zuko scowled after his uncle answered him. He was so close. So close to capturing the Avatar. All he had to do was break into Omashu, battle the Avatar, capture him, fight his way out, and then get home before anything could go wrong. Yeah. No problem at all.

". . . . you aren't going to beat Aang." Zuko's eyes snapped over to Katara. She was looking ahead as she spoke to him. "He been practicing Earthbending and Firebending. He's already mastered water." Finally, her piercing blue eyes landed on him. "You won't beat him." Zuko turned his gaze ahead and felt a smirk work its way onto his face.

"I will beat him. You forget, I am a Fire Master now."

"That's not enough to stop me, Zuko!" Zuko barely had time to knock aside a ball of fire. His golden eyes narrowed as the Avatar landed in front of the group. With ease Zuko slid off the rhino and dropped into a fighting stance.

"I'm capturing you today, Avatar." Zuko growled as he stepped forward and punched, sending out a blast of fire while Iroh got off of his rhino. Aang ducked under the fire and stomped on the ground, causing a small earthquake. The rhinos let out snarls and reared up, throwing off their riders. The soldiers quickly go to their feet and charged forward, intent on fighting only to have Earthbenders come out of the forest they had been traveling through and the soldiers began to fight the earthbenders. Katara herself was thrown from the rhino she had been riding. She managed to roll and get to her feet when she noticed a shadow over her. Katara looked up and her eyes widened in surprise before she rolled out of the way of Yumi's heel as it crashed down into the ground. Standing up, Katara looked at Yumi while uncapping the waterskin at her side.

"Well, I am surprised." Yumi muttered quietly as she and Katara circled each other.

"And why is that?" Katara challenged Yumi.

"You would actually abandon your brother and Aang for the Prince of the Fire Nation." Yumi smirked and Katara created a water whip and smacked at the spot Yumi had been standing in. Yumi was gone. Looking around frantically, Katara tried to find the vanished Yumi. "Too slow!"

Katara turned and used her water to create a shield to stop the fiery kick coming towards her face. Steam rose up into the air and Katara gritted her teeth in frustration at her only source of water being gone. Yumi charged forward and slammed her elbow into the side of Katara's face, sending the waterbender to the ground. Yumi stared down at Katara and forced the girl to look into her pitch black eyes by grabbing her chin and making the girl face her. Before anything could happen, Yumi felt heat coming towards her and she had to jump away as fire scorched the spot she had been in. Katara looked up and smiled at Iroh who helped her up onto her feet.

"Come, I will deal with this woman. You try to talk to your brother and the Avatar to figure things out." Iroh glanced back to see Prince Zuko fighting the young airbender and smiled. "That is, of course, if my nephew doesn't mind." Iroh looked ahead to see Yumi staring at the ground, her eyes in shadows.

* * *

Zuko panted as he dodged a wave of fire. Aang had certainly been practicing his firebending, that much was for sure.

"Aang!" Zuko and Aang looked over to see Katara coming towards them.

"Katara!" The young monk called out with a smile. Zuko took the opportunity to send a fiery punch towards Aang.

"Never let you're guard down! Didn't your firebending teacher tell you that!" Zuko hissed as he sent another punch out with fire shooting forth. Aang narrowed his eyes and brought his hands up, ripping the ground out from under Zuko's feet. The prince of fire managed to land on his hands and do a handspring to avoid landing face first in the dirt.

"STOP!" Katara ran in between the two.

"Get out of the way, Katara." Zuko growled as he glared at Katara and Aang. "You have no water. Do not put yourself in the middle of this."

"Katara! How could you leave us to stay with him?" Aang asked, hurt and confused. Katara looked back at Aang, equally confused.

"What are you talking about? You and Sokka-"

"Katara!" She looked up to see her brother coming into the clearing.

"Sokka!" The waterbending master cried out with joy as she saw him. However, there was a cry of pain as Iroh was sent tumbling back while Yumi lowered her foot from a kick.

"Uncle!"

"Iroh!" Katara gasped in worry as the old man's young nephew rush to his side.

"You actually care for this old firebender?" Yumi asked with a slight smirk. "What's next, you care for Prince Zuko?" Before anyone could speak, Yumi was knocked back by a ball of fire. Eyes turned to Zuko as he cradled his Uncle in one arm and the other one was held out in a fist with smoke rising off of it.

"You will pay for hurting my uncle!" The young prince snarled before laying down his unconscious uncle onto the ground. "Lieutenant Ji!" The lieutenant hurried over to the prince's side.

"Yes, sir?" Zuko stood and glared at Yumi as she got up from the ground.

"Take care of my uncle." He ordered before stepping forward. _'Uncle . . . . please forgive me for what I am about to do . . . .'_ Zuko slammed his fist into the ground and a wave of fire sprung out of the ground and raced towards Yumi. Her dark eyes widened in surprise as the fire knocked her back to the ground. "You should never hurt those close to me. It will only make your death that much more painful!" Zuko began to move his arms and hands about quickly as he stood in a light stance. Fire spewed out with his every movement. Soon fire had erupted into a large towering shape of a dragon. Zuko moved faster as he controlled this complex shape. Yumi looked up and her eyes widened in surprise as the dragon flew up into the air and then plummeted down and swallow, leaving her in an inferno. Though he breathed heavily, Zuko turned to the Avatar, ready to face him.

"Avatar-" Aang's eyes were glued to where Yumi had been.

"Y-Yumi?" The young boy stuttered in shock.

"No." Croaked a familiar voice. Zuko turned and stared at his uncle in surprise.

"Uncle," Zuko moved to Iroh's side. "Are you alright?"

"Oh Zuko . . . . what have you done?" Iroh looked up at Zuko with such disappointment in his eyes.

"I'm sorry, uncle." Zuko whispered softly.

"You knew it was forbidden." Iroh chided him. "Yet you practiced her teachings? Why?"

"I just wanted to be a Fire Master. I had to bring some honor to my father." Zuko bit his lip and and looked at the ground. "It would shame him further had my sister become a master before me."

"_He is a fool!_" Zuko's head snapped up and he looked over at the large fire that was where Yumi had been. "I've told you time and time again, Zuko," The fire began to lower. "You are destined for great things. Things you're father couldn't even dream of."

". . . . who?" Zuko narrowed his eyes in confusion as the fire lowered enough for Yumi to step out. She clothes were burnt, barely hanging onto her and their were patches of torn skin, revealing a light peach color beneath the porcelain skin. But it was her eyes that drew the air out of Zuko. When he had attacked her, he hadn't even bothered to look at her eyes. It was those pitch black eyes. The same eyes that belonged to his teacher. "Hellfire?" The world seemed to stop. All the earthbenders and soldiers had stopped when Zuko had let loose that enormous fire dragon, a technique that only one person was suppose to know. A person who was cast out of the Fire Nation on mysterious grounds while the prince was only a boy.

Yumi reached up and grabbed the skin on her face and pulled. It tore off to reveal a peach colored face. Unlike the one Yumi had worn, this one looked in the mid twenties. While Yumi had looked like she had just lost her baby fat, this one looked like it had reached full maturity. Fire grew and consumed 'Yumi', burning away the dusty black hair to reveal pitch black hair, as dark as the voids she called her eyes. The fire took shape around her and turned solid. Her clothes were all black. Black books had black baggy pants tucked into them. The pants hung on her slim hips. She wore a sleeveless shirt that conformed to her frame and exposed her flat stomach. Her neck was covered by the collar. Black leather gloves adorned her hands as they wielded blades in each. The skin was no longer porcelain but a soft peach. She was no longer the strange firebending master named Yumi.

Throwing her blades down, hard, she embedded them into the ground and reached up. She pulled her long hair into a twist at the top of her head and tied it with a black ribbon, letting the loose hair spray out of the twist. The woman knelt down, never taking her eyes off of Zuko, and pulled her blades out of the ground.

"It's been a long time, my dear prince." She began to walk towards him. "I promised that I would come back for you when you were away from that hateful man."

"Hellfire?" Zuko had stood up and took a step towards her. A shadow of joy passed over his face. The woman nodded.

"Yes, dear prince, it's me, Hellfire." She smiled lovingly at him. "Look at you, all grown up. You've mastered my teachings, even without me there to help. You truly are destined for great things."

". . . . Hellfire . . . you haven't aged a day . . . you haven't changed at all . . . but . . . . what are you doing here?" She came to a stop and looked over at the Avatar. Aang stood with Katara and Sokka.

"I am teaching the Avatar firebending." Zuko took a step back in shock.

"W-what?"

"Zuko! Get away from that _thing_!" Iroh yelled, causing Zuko to turn and look at his uncle, confused.

"But . . . . it's Hellfire."

"Zuko!" Iroh pushed himself to his feet. "Run while you still can!"

". . . . I . . . . I don't understand." Zuko looked back and forth between Hellfire and his uncle. "What did she do to get chased away like she was? Tell me, uncle?" Iroh sighed as the truth came out.

"She murdered your mother." Zuko shook his head in disbelief.

"My mother died when I was four. She died of illness."

"It's true, Prince Zuko." His head snapped back to look at Hellfire. "I killed her." Zuko stared at her in shock and horror.

"No. NO! You raised me like I was your own!" Zuko yelled at Hellfire. "Why would you kill her?" Sokka looked at Zuko then at Hellfire and then turned his attention to Katara and Aang.

"What going on here?" He asked and Aang could only shrug while Katara started to walk forward.

"This is Hellfire, Zuko?" Zuko backed up and shook his head.

"No. This can't be her. She wouldn't do that." Hellfire sighed and took a step towards him but Iroh moved in front of Zuko.

"Prince Zuko, get away while you can! I will hold her off!" Hellfire narrowed her eyes and disappeared from where she was standing and reappeared behind Zuko.

"Like you could." She grabbed onto Zuko and disappeared.

"Zuko!" Katara gasped as she looked around for him. Iroh shook his head in defeat.

"Don't bother. Wherever she's taken him, there's no way to track her."

* * *

Wow, a lot happened in this chapter. Please review and tell me what you think. It helps me a lot if there is a part I missed or what not. 


	13. Lullaby

Lullaby

"_My dear prince." The young boy looked up at Hellfire as she stood on top of a wall. With ease she leaped off of the wall and landed beside him. Reaching out with her gloved hand, she patted him on the head. Frowning, the boy knocked her hand way from his dark hair and made sure that his ponytail had not been messed up. His hair was barely long enough to be put into a ponytail but Hellfire said that he would look nice in one. So he had dropped the traditional bun style and put his hair up into a ponytail even though his hair was only long enough to hang an inch or two out of the tie. "What brings such a look of annoyance, Prince Zuko?" The young Zuko sighed and began to walk away. However, Hellfire only shook her head and grabbed him by the back of his robs. "Do not think you can walk away from your teacher." After a moment of silence, Zuko answered._

"_. . . . . father says that what you teach me is not proper." Hellfire sighed and let go of him. _

"_Your father is full of hot air." She muttered low enough to where Zuko could not hear her. With a shake of her head, she spoke loud enough for him to hear her. "That's only because no one has been taught my style of firebending before." She smiled at him as she began to walk and pulled him along. "Come. We will practice some and then you will feel better." Zuko gave her a small smile and nodded._

"_Very well." Hellfire scoffed at Zuko's response and crossed her arms._

"_Very well? You sound like an old man." She chided and shook her head. "No training today!"_

"_What!" Zuko screeched, shocked. His response earned him a chuckle from Hellfire._

"_Yes, you heard right. No training today. Today, you will practice being a child." She smiled down at him as he stared at her, confused._

"_. . . . practice . . . . being a child?" He repeated in confusion, causing her to nod. _

"_Yes. Today we will play in the garden."

* * *

_

Zuko slowly opened his eyes as he laid on ground. That was one of his favorite memories.

"He should not have burned you." Her voice entered his ears and immediately he was on his feet, ready to fight. Hellfire stood with her back to him and her arms crossed while she stared out into space, also remembering.

"Hellfire!" He shouted, angry as all the memories of the truth came back. She killed his mother. She was the reason he didn't have a mother. It was her fault. She wasn't loving like he had thought. She was just using him. Like all the others. Finally, she turned and faced him. Her normally blank face was sad. Those dark eyes that seemed to be voids were filled with unshed tears.

"I should have taken you away from him before he had the chance to hurt you even more." Hellfire blinked and that action allowed for tears to fall. They quickly ran down her face and fell to the ground. It was then that Zuko noticed that they were in a cave. The mouth of the cave had light shining through it and as Hellfire stood near the entrance, the falling sun gave her a warm glow.

"You killed my mother!" The fire prince yelled at her. Hellfire nodded slowly.

"Yes."

"So it was all a lie!" Zuko threw a ball of fire at her which she only batted to the side. "You're just like everyone else. All you care about is using me!" Hellfire's eyes hardened when he screamed this at her. She calmly walked up to him and Zuko did not back down. He would not—no, _could_ not back down to her, not after what she did. However, he wasn't expecting her next action. She backhanded him in the face, hard. So hard that she knocked the prince off his feet and caused him to tumble to his side. Zuko cradled his bruise cheek and glared up at Hellfire. "Are you going to kill me now? Like you did with my mother?" Hellfire's blinked again, letting more tears fall from her eyes.

"You foolish boy! Do you remember nothing I taught you!"

"You killed my mother!" Zuko yelled at her as he got to his feet.

"Had it not been my hand, it would have been her own!" Hellfire shouted at him. Her words shocked Zuko to his core.

"W-what?"

Hellfire sighed and shook her head, her sudden burst of anger leaving her.

"Here I am, your teacher, and I can not even practice what I taught you. Loosing myself to anger, even for a moment, is dangerous." She chided herself as she looked away.

"What did you mean, Hellfire?" She ignored Prince Zuko's question and spoke softly.

"But then again, I have done many dangerous things. And I have never regretted doing them until I met you, my dear prince."

"Answer the question, dammit!" Zuko yelled once more, rage filling him. She glared at him and hissed out a reply.

"Control your temper and you can control your flame, my dear prince." Zuko's fist tightened and flame spurted out for a brief instant.

"Stop mocking me, Hellfire! Tell me the truth!" The tears in Hellfire's eyes dried up and the blank mask she wore was in place once more.

"You are not ready for such a tale, young prince."

"I used to think you cared about me. I used to think of you like a mother. Now I know the truth. You are just trying to use me. So stop messing with my head and return me to my uncle." She shook her head at Zuko's words.

"I do care for you. That is why I protect you, Prince Zuko." Hellfire calmly replied to him.

"Then tell me, Hellfire!" Zuko shouted once again. "Tell me so that I know what to believe! Tell me so that I don't have to hate you!" Hellfire's face softened slightly.

"Are you so desperate to receive love that you will follow blindly?" She asked quietly, her voice barely above a whisper. "Do you yearn for it so badly you would condemn the world for it?"

"Tell me, Hellfire! No more riddles! No more games!" He pleaded with her. "Please, tell me the truth. I don't want to be lied to anymore!" The softness in her face disappeared. She stared into his fierce golden eyes with her pitch black eyes.

"You want the truth, Prince Zuko?" He nodded slowly and she fought back a sigh. Hellfire reached up and held Zuko's head. Slowly she brought her own head close to his and rested her forehead against his. There was a flash that filled the cave.

* * *

"What do you want me to tell your son?" A woman with soft brown eyes looked back at Hellfire. They were in the garden with the sakura tree. The woman's silky black hair was up in a bun and a flower comb held it in place. She wore an elegant red kimono with flames sewn into it at the hems. The obi was consumed in flames.

"Tell him the truth." The woman whispered as she looked back at the young boy sleeping by the sakura tree. The shadows blanketed him from the warm sun. Hellfire narrowed her eyes and took a step forward.

"You want me to tell a _four_ year old boy that his mother wanted to kill herself? That I had to take her own life in order for her to be properly honored when she died?' Hellfire's voice raised as she spoke. The woman looked up at Hellfire and shushed her.

"Please, do not wake him." Hellfire closed her eyes and complied with the woman's wishes. She calmed herself before looking at the woman again. "I do not want him to be told his mother was insane and took her own life. That is too much for any child. I do not want that for my daughter either."

"Why do you ask this of me? Why not run and hide? I can take you away from here, with your children, and hide you where he can never get to you." The woman shook her head in reply.

"No. I do not want to run and hide. There is no honor in stealing a child from their father. Not when he can provide the world for them while I can not." The woman sighed and looked back over at the young boy. His black hair was pulled back into a small ponytail. His pale alabaster skin was flawless. ". . . . make sure he keeps the ponytail. He looks handsome in it."

"What makes you so sure that I am going to kill you?" Hellfire asked her. "Why would I take a mother away from her son and daughter? Even I am not that cruel." The woman turned her eyes back to Hellfire. Tears had filled them.

"Please, Hellfire! I cannot take this war! Everyday I fear for the life of my children! Everyday I wonder if they will end up like Ozai. I wonder if they will thirst for power. For blood. I cannot take it any more. This war . . . . it has stolen my husband from me. Perhaps my death will bring him back."

"And if it does not?" Hellfire was still reluctant. The woman, the mother of the boy sleeping in the shadows of the sakura tree, sighed and got on her knees to bow before Hellfire.

"Hellfire, you are a truly powerful teacher. Please, take my children under your wing. Take them and prepare them to end this war." Hellfire sighed and looked up at the sky. The sun was at its highest point and there was no cloud in sight.

"You have given me weak reasons to kill you."

". . . . the spirits haunt me for marrying Ozai. I know it." Her softly spoken words drew Hellfire's attention back to her. The woman was still on her knees but had looked off to the side. ". . . . I am at the brink of insanity. This war . . . this life . . . . I can no longer bare it. Please, Hellfire," The woman looked back up at Hellfire and the tears ran down her face. "I need you to send me off into a peaceful resting place!" The darkly clad woman known as Hellfire closed her eyes and sighed again.

". . . . I cannot teach Zula anything. I doubt that I will be able to take her under my protection as I can with Zuko. She was simply not born under my power like Zuko was. Already she has produced her flame. The young princess is a prodigy. Ozai will not let her out of his grasp." Hellfire opened her eyes again and looked at the young boy sleeping under the tree. "But Zuko . . . . I see disappointment in the Fire Lord's eyes when he looks at your loving son. Even as such a young age, Zuko has a great heart and is a loving and caring boy. Ozai knows this. And Ozai hates this. I will protect your son, but I fear that Zula is beyond my help." The woman nodded slowly when Hellfire finished. A pained expression was on her face.

"Then . . . save my dear son. But do what you can to save them both." Hellfire nodded as she knelt before the woman who had sat up to speak with Hellfire.

"I will try."

"Thank you, Hellfire." Zuko's mother smiled before Hellfire placed a hand in front of her.

"Farewell." The mysterious Hellfire made her hand into a fist and Zuko's mother's eyes slowly closed as they lost their shine. The tortured woman fell forward into Hellfire's waiting arms, dead. Her inter fire had been extinguished. Hellfire laid down the woman gently when she heard a noise. She looked up and frowned when she saw the young boy starting to wake. "Zuko." She whispered as she moved to the boy's side. She cradled the boy in her arms as his eyes started to open. "Go back to sleep, my prince." She began to hum a wordless song and rocked him gently back and forth, soothing him and sending him back to sleep.

* * *

Hmm . . . the plot thickens! Well, I hope you liked that chapter. Sorry it took so long to get it done, I had a slight case of writer's block. Oh! In case you hadn't noticed, I have less errors than before! That's because a friend of mine is editing the sotry now! Yay! Anyway, please review. It helps with fighting writer's block and some make me laugh or think! Thank you for reading a please review!  



	14. Life

Life

"What . . . just happened?" Sokka asked in general as Iroh stared at the spot Zuko had been in seconds ago. Iroh's face was full of pain and sorrow as he turned back to face the two water siblings and the Avatar.

"Hellfire has taken Prince Zuko."

"I . . . I don't understand. Zuko said that Hellfire loved him like a mother. She raised him, why would she kill his mother? It doesn't make sense."

"Hellfire is an evil demon born from the very fires of hell. She is insane and has no feelings." Iroh shook his head warily.

"But . . . Zuko said that no one knew what Hellfire was." Katara was confused and her face and eyes showed it. This caused Iroh to raise an eyebrow in surprise.

"You talked to Prince Zuko about Hellfire?"

"Wait!" Sokka interrupted before anything more could be said or done. "Who is Hellfire? Why was Katara with Zuko? Why did Yumi turn into that other woman? What is going on!" The WaterTribe boy asked frantically, trying to clarify what was happening. Iroh sighed and nodded to himself as he made his decision.

"I will tell you. After all, we are all in danger now that Hellfire has Prince Zuko."

"So, it was Hellfire after all." A new voice came from behind the group. All eyes turned to King Bumi as he entered the clearing. The earthbenders bowed and the Fire Nation soldiers looked to Iroh to see what would happen. Iroh noticed their eyes turning to him and sighed once more before looking at Bumi.

"You knew that it was Hellfire?" Iroh asked the other old man, earning him a nod.

"Wait! Who is Hellfire!" Sokka yelled, angry that he was left out of the loop. Katara turned to her brother to answer him.

"From what Zuko told me, Hellfire was his teacher when he was younger. Yet no one knew what she was or where she came from. All that he knew was that she treated him like a son and that's all he cared about. But she was chased away one day, he never knew why."

Iroh nodded and began to fill in the blanks.

"My brother Ozai believed that Hellfire is a demon that came to destroy the Fire Nation. And for once, I am inclined to agree with him." Iroh shook his head as he remembered. "The Lady Fumiko, Zuko's mother, died mysteriously when she was spending the day with Zuko and Hellfire. No one knows how it happened. But we did not think that she was assassinated by Hellfire because Hellfire was thought to be her most trusted friend. We found out only later that it was Hellfire."

"How?" Sokka asked the question that was on everyone's mind.

"There was a mark, right over Fumiko's heart. A burn mark. We did not know what it meant until we found someone else Hellfire had killed who bore the same mark. Hellfire can extinguish a firebender's inter fire." Iroh frowned as he looked at Katara. "We never told Prince Zuko this because it would be too damaging to him. To find that the woman he considered to be his mother, a woman he thought of as a guardian angel, was nothing more than a manipulative old hearted demon? Too damaging for a boy so young. Instead, my nephew was ordered to forget everything about her. At first it seemed like that would not happen, but eventually, to please his father and me, he did. Yet lately, he must have remembered her. I have no other way to explain the major advancements he has made recently." Iroh shook his head in sorrow.

"But that still doesn't explain why we are in danger." Katara persisted.

"And that doesn't explain what my sister was doing with Zuko!" Sokka yelled, angry still. The young waterbender looked over at her brother, sad.

"I was with Zuko because you two left me behind." She whispered. "You said you didn't want me." Sokka's eyes softened and he hugged his little sister.

"I would never say that." He whispered softly in her ear as he tightened his hug.

"That was probably Hellfire's doing." Iroh interjected. The two siblings looked over at the old man. "She has the power to hypnotize with her eyes. Her power of hypnotism works better on men than women. More than likely that is why she chased away Katara." Katara gasped and looked over at Sokka.

"That's probably why you trusted her, Sokka! She hypnotized you when you first saw her!"

"But . . . . . I would get mad at her and fight with her." Sokka muttered, confused. Iroh thought for a moment, trying to find an explanation.

". . . . well, we know very little about her powers to start with. However, I think her main purpose was not to change it so much that your personality caused suspicion, rather, only change it enough for her to get close to the Avatar." Aang looked around, confused himself.

"But why would she want to get close to me."

"To get to Prince Zuko through you." Iroh supplied.

* * *

"How do I know that's what really happened?" Zuko asked, causing Hellfire to sigh as she stepped back.

"Prince Zuko . . . . you can believe me or not. That choice is up to you. No one can make it for you." She watched him absorb her words and waited a moment before she continued. "The paths before you are clouded and dangerous. But they are _your_ paths. No one else's. No one should make you choose one you do not want. It is a decision that only you can make." Zuko stared up into her black eyes, his emotions hidden.

". . . . . what are you asking of me, Hellfire?" She reached out and held the side of his face with her hand, a faint smile on her face.

"I am only asking you to make your own choices. Do what you want, nothing anyone else wants. You are your own person." He still stared at her blankly. Hellfire fought back a sigh. She expected him to be reluctant, but this was nearly too much. Ozai had corrupted him almost beyond repair. But she would fix him. "You still are lost?" He nodded. "Then perhaps we shall decide things slowly." She prepared herself for a fight and spoke her next words carefully. "Will you stop your father from destroying the world or will you bring him the Avatar?"

"That's treason!" Zuko shouted at her, shocked. He knocked her hand away from his face. "I would never betray my nation!" Her eyes hardened.

"Betrayal?" She whispered harshly. Hellfire began to shout. "I am not asking you to betray your nation! I am asking you to save it! This war is killing it! The honor the great Fire Nation once held is gone! The people of your nation are dying every day at an alarming rate! Boys do not know their fathers and the second they are old enough, they are shipped off to fight! Mothers weep for their sons! Wives wail in agony as their husbands are buried. Little girls are taught nothing but that they should have strong sons! Ozai is not a worthy king! He is a tyrant! The last of the honor in your family left with you when he scarred and banished you!" Zuko had taken a step back in surprise at her outburst. He had never seen his teacher become so emotional in all the years she taught him as he had seen today. Zuko began to speak, quietly, almost as if he was trying to convince himself.

"There is still honor in my family. My sister-"

"Is influenced too greatly by your father. He has sent her to capture the Avatar." Zuko's eyes widened in shock when those words left Hellfire's mouth.

"B-but that is my duty!" Hellfire stepped forward and pulled Zuko into a hug. The boy stiffened, not used to such actions.

"He gave you a fool's errand. He never thought the Avatar would come back. Please, stop following him so blindly and open your eyes." She left go of him and stepped back to look at Zuko in the eyes. "Wake up and chose the path you want to take, not the path anyone else wants you to take." Zuko narrowed his eyes.

"How would you know what I really want! What if this is the path I want? You don't know! You've been gone for so long!" He yelled as he backed away from her. He was angry. Angry at her, at the world . . . . at his father. "You say you want me to take the right path! How should I know what it is! I can't see the future!" Hellfire calmly sat down on the floor of the cave and patted the spot next to her.

"Then we will break it down, step by step, so that you will find the right path." Reluctantly, Zuko sat down beside his old teacher.

* * *

"But why are we in danger?" Aang asked the old firebender, earning a sigh.

"Hellfire is a very dangerous demon. Yet she would not harm Prince Zuko because she needs him. She can easily manipulate him and once Zuko's back on the throne, she can control the whole Fire Nation." Iroh looked up at the sun. "A phoenix is a bird that is much like the sun. it rises and falls like the sun. Just like the old sun does at the end of the day, it dies. And it rises again, from the ashes, brand new and young once more, just like the sun." Iroh turned his gaze back to Aang. "Hellfire believes that the Fire Lord is just like the phoenix, if not a incarnation of a phoenix."

"I . . . don't understand." Aang muttered, barely loud enough for anyone to really hear. Yet, the old Dragon of the West heard him.

"She believes that when the Fire Lord grows too old, like the sun, a new Fire Lord must rise up out of the ashes and take the throne."

"You talk in proverbs and stories that I don't understand. Please, explain." Aang nearly shouted the first part but calmed himself. Iroh sighed again and tried to explain it simply.

"The phoenix is very powerful. It is said to be born of the flames of Agni. This is also believed of the Fire Lords. When Zuko gains the throne, it is believed that he will gain the fire of Agni. Should Hellfire be manipulating him, she believes she can extract the flame of Agni and become immortal with it. She's already very hard to kill as it is."

* * *

"That girl . . . . she likes you." Hellfire commented as Zuko thought silently. He looked up, startled, with red staining his cheeks.

". . . . I know." Hellfire shot him a sly look.

"Do you like her, my prince?"

"Can we talk about something else?" Hellfire raised an eyebrow.

"You were my student, but I thought you could talk to me about anything." She watched Zuko shoot her a glare.

"You are worse at guilty tripping me than Uncle." This comment earned him a smirk.

"So, do you like her?" Zuko nodded in answer to Hellfire's question. "Does she know this?" Another nod. "You two haven't . . . done anything, right?"

"Hellfire!" Zuko was beat red. "I have more honor than that!"

"So you still believe you have honor?"

"Hellfire," Zuko looked down at his hands as he spoke. "I don't know what to believe anymore."

"Very well." She muttered as she looked at the ground. "But know this." He looked over at her while she raised her eyes to the ceiling. "No one can take your honor away. You can only give it up." Her eyes turned to him. "I should know this Prince Zuko. I've been around for a very long time." Silence hung heavy in the air for several minutes as Zuko thought over everything.

". . . . I think I've made my decision."


	15. Sacred

Sacred

"Hellfire . . . teach me everything you know." Zuko down on his knees and bowed to the strange woman clad in black. She raised an eyebrow in surprise.

"Prince Zuko . . . you are the rank of master."

"Hellfire," He looked up at her with determination in his eyes. "I may be the rank of master, but I am nothing compared to my uncle, my father . . . . or you." Her eyes softened slightly at this. "Please, teach me what you have left. Teach me everything. I've only been able to master what I've seen from you." She dropped to her knees and pulled the young man up from the bow to a sitting position.

"You know that what I have to teach has been forbidden by your father."

"I don't care."

* * *

"You don't need to stay, you know." Hellfire commented as Zuko dropped his arms to his side and stood up straight in his training clothes. The banished prince of fire looked over at his teacher. It had been two weeks since he had asked her to finish teaching him her dark arts. In those two weeks, the two firebenders had left the cave they had been in and Hellfire took him to an abandon monastery. Right now Zuko was practicing in an open courtyard.

"I do need to stay. Uncle Iroh has been put against you by my father. He's been lied to, just like everyone else. Right now, it isn't safe for you to be around him." His words caused Hellfire to bark out a harsh laugh.

"Do you forget who I am, dear prince?" She didn't give him a change to answer her. "I am Hellfire! I need to fear no mortal." She smirked as Zuko only rolled his eyes.

"You never bother with humbling yourself, do you?"

"Of course not. Why should I?" Zuko sighed and turned back to the exercise he was working on. ". . . . thank you, Prince Zuko." Once more, Zuko stopped. This time he looked back at her with a surprised and confused look on his face.

"What are you thanking me for?"

"For . . . . teaching me." Her words caused Zuko to raise an eyebrow in confusion.

"What could I teach you, Hellfire?" Hellfire shrugged as she looked around the open courtyard the two stood in. She narrowed her eyes when she spotted a rain cloud.

"Rain is coming." She muttered, causing Zuko to look up in the direction that she had spotted the rain cloud in. He turned his gaze back to her as she sighed. "Prince Zuko . . . . would you like to spar? No firebending of course." Zuko dropped into a fighting stance with a smirk.

"Of course."

"Pride," Hellfire sneered as she dropped into her own stance. In a flash she was behind Zuko and aiming a kick to his head. "Lose it before it costs you your head!" The kick came at him hard and swift. However, Zuko brought his arms up in time and her foot slammed against his forearms. With speed that he had only recently possessed, Zuko grabbed onto her leg and spun around, flinging her to the side. Hellfire managed to flip in the air and land on her feet. "Good, my prince, but-" She disappeared and Zuko glanced around for her. The prince's teacher surprised him by appearing right in front of him. "not good enough!" She rammed her foot into his chest and sent the prince stumbling back. Hellfire didn't give him a chance to regain his footing.

A fury of punches came at him, causing Zuko to be pushed back as he blocked them, barely keeping his balance. Hellfire jumped up into the air and flipped before bringing her heel down, hard. The scarred prince just brought his arms up to block it in time. Hellfire managed to push off and landed only a few feet away. But Zuko had gotten enough time to completely regain his balance. With his balanced regained, Zuko launched himself onto the offensive. He paid little attention to the rain pouring down upon the two. He only rushed forward and threw punch after punch, Hellfire blocking or dodging each one. He gritted his teeth in frustration and growled as he tried to kick her. Hellfire only back flipped away from his range and out of harm's way. She laughed. "My dear prince," Hellfire stepped into a fighting stance. "You will have to do better than that."

She began to run towards him, a cruel smirk was on her face as she threw a punch. The fire prince stepped to the side and avoided the punch. Another one came at him and he stepped close to her, avoiding the punch, and rammed his knee up, towards her stomach. However, Hellfire bent back and put her hand out to hold her up as she flipped back and kicked the prince in the chest. Zuko tripped as he stumbled back once more. Hellfire took the opportunity and jumped into the air and brought her heel up into the air with the intention of slamming it into the spot Zuko had fallen in. Upon seeing her descent to the ground, Zuko rolled out of the way. A scowl worked its way onto Hellfire's face when her heel crushed the ground. She wasn't prepared when Zuko's fist came at her head and slammed into it.

Once more, Zuko was on the offensive. He barely noticed that the water was coming down heavier. Sweat mixed with rain as he kept up his barrage of punches. However, Hellfire was not caught off guard again. She blocked and evaded all the punches with a defiant smirk that made Zuko angry. Angry at her for defending so well, angry at himself for not being able to hit her, angry at the world for being so cruel. "Enough, Prince Zuko." Zuko frowned at her when she ended it and stopped, panting. He hadn't realized how short of breath he was until that moment. Nor did he realize how cold he was from the rain.

"Why . . . did you . . . stop, Hellfire?" Zuko managed between breaths. Finally, he caught his breath. "There was no winner." Hellfire frowned as she looked at him while crossing her arms.

"But there was a loser. You got angry Prince Zuko. You began to lose yourself to your rage." Hellfire cut him off when he opened his mouth. A glare was plastered on his face. "Do not even bother to disagree with me, my prince." Sighing, Hellfire shook her head. "How many times have I told you not to lose yourself in your rage. Should you lose yourself to rage, you will lose control of your flame. And none of my advance teachings will work."

* * *

Katara looked out the window at the kingdom of Omashu. It had been two weeks since Zuko had mysteriously disappeared with Hellfire. Iroh and the firebenders had been granted safe refugee so long as nothing happened. It was only on the Avatar's word and the crew of firebenders swearing on their honor that kept them in the city. And it was only on Katara's word that Aang trusted the group of men. 

"Hey, Katara!" Katara looked up, over at Aang as he raced down the hallway with Momo flying behind him.

"Hey, Aang. How's firebending with Iroh going?" She noticed Aang flinch at her casual address of the Dragon of the West. Aang did like the man, but it hurt that Katara was left behind because of Hellfire's trickery.

"Great! Yu-I mean, Hellfire, taught me normal firebending for the most part." Aang smiled a goofy smile at her. "Hey, you want to ride the mail chutes again?" Katara sighed and shook her head.

"No." She frowned when she saw his disappointed face. "I'm sorry, Aang, but I can't. I'm too worried."

"About Zuko?" Katara nodded. She had long since told the young Avatar and her brother about how she and Zuko had become close. Sokka still didn't want to talk about it and the monk had just smiled and congratulated her. What she didn't know was that it crushed him. He had liked her. A lot. But he didn't show it. He couldn't. Zuko made her happy and that's what mattered. "Don't worry, Katara. I'm sure Zuko is fine." Sighing again, Katara gave Aang a weak smile.

"Yeah, you're probably right."

* * *

"Hellfire . . . teach me the last of the dark arts." It was not a request from Zuko, is was a demand. The woman frowned and glared at Zuko through the heavy rain. 

"They are not 'dark arts' and I will not be commanded." Steam rose from Zuko's skin as his temper flared.

"Hellfire, you-" Zuko started but Hellfire cut him off with a firm glare.

"I will not be ordered around, Zuko!" She snapped with her hands on her hips.

"Why won't you finish teaching me!"

"Because you are not ready!" Hellfire exclaimed, trying to make him see.

"How can I become ready!" Demanded the young prince. Hellfire's eyes softened as she looked away.

"Ancient laws of this art have forbade . . . . you're just not ready!" Zuko narrowed his eyes when she paused and changed the subject.

"What are you hiding, Hellfire?" He asked quietly, but in a demanding tone. Her eyes hardened and narrowed as she glared up at the prince.

"That is my business and mine alone." She hissed as the rain ran down her face and dripped off of her chin and hair. She turned to walk away but Zuko's voice stopped her.

"I thought you could talk to me about anything." Hellfire looked back at Zuko in surprise.

". . . . why would you think that?"

"Because I can tell you anything." Zuko answered as though it was the most simple thing in the world. Hellfire squeezed her fist shut and looked away while squeezing her eyes shut. "I told you about everything that happened. Even parts I am ashamed of." She bit her lip before relaxing and looking back at Zuko.

". . . . he was the one that lost his honor that day, not you . . ." Hellfire whispered softly. "In an Agni Kai, the firebenders must know who their opponent is. It cannot be thrown upon them without their knowledge. Those were sacred laws that he broke."

"It's too late for your sympathy, Hellfire. The scar is on my face, there is no way to remove it. It's already healed, so no healer can fix it." She met his gaze as he spoke and bit her lip again before she spoke.

". . . . what if . . . . I could take away the scar? But at a price . . . . the price of all your memories since the scar." Zuko shook his head almost immediately.

"No, Hellfire. I want to remember. Besides . . . . if you take away the scar and the memories . . . . you take away part of me. And . . . ." He trailed off with a slight blush. "I want to remember Katara." Hellfire nodded with a smile.

"You really like that girl, don't you?" He nodded to her question. "Very well. I won't take the scar away." She was going to try and walk away again but once more, Zuko's voice stopped her.

". . . . what have the ancient laws forbidden you to do?" She looked back at him as he asked her that. He frowned at her silence and gave out a frustrated sigh. "Fine, if you don't want to tell me, then you don't have to."

". . . . . I cannot teach you the final sets because you must learn them on your own."

"That doesn't make any sense!" Zuko argued, upset that his teacher could no longer teach him anything. Hellfire sighed and nodded. She understood his frustration. In fact, she even shared in his anger. He was her best student. Her only true student, really. No one else was suitable to learn the arts she taught. And she could not finish teaching him.

"I know, I know. But I have faith that you will understand the ancient style of firebending I have taught you. I know you will be able to teach yourself the final sets and use them. All I am permitted to do is this;" Before Zuko could react, Hellfire slammed a fist into his stomach. As Zuko doubled over in pain, Hellfire raised her hands above his head and clasped them together in a fist and brought them down, hard. The young prince made a thud sound as he hit the ground with a great amount of force. His vision faded as he drifted into the endless darkness of his mind.

She held no emotion on her face as Zuko laid on the ground, unconscious. "You will thank me, my prince." Kneeling down beside him, Hellfire rolled him onto his back. Holding her hand above his head, Hellfire looked up into the sky as she began to chant in a foreign language.

* * *

Thanks everyone for reading this! Please review and tell me your ideas about what is going on! Sometimes those ideas give me ideas! And then, poof! An even better fanfiction. Plus, the reviews help me fight the uphill battle against writer's block which I've been losing to lately. TT Please review and thanks for reading! 


	16. Power

Power

Hellfire held her hands out in front of her and cupped them together. Inhaling slowly and deeply, she closed her eyes then blew into her cupped hands. Fire sprouted to life from her mouth and gathered into her hands. The strange woman spread her hands apart and let the fire spread out with her hands, surrounding her. The fire roared around her as she stood perfectly still. Suddenly, Hellfire's eyes snapped open and she stomped her foot as she leaned her side and threw her arm in that direction. With a deafening roar, the fire soared in that direction. Zuko stood in the path of the fire. No emotion was shown on his face. Without flinching, he raised an arm and batted the fire to the side, away from him.

"What did you do to me, Hellfire?" A smirk worked its way onto her lips.

"What? I didn't do anything damaging to you." Her smirk dropped into a frown. "You still have the scar." He shook his head.

"I can feel it, Hellfire. You did something." Hellfire turned her back and closed her eyes.

"Go back to her, lover boy."

"Hellfire! You will tell me what you did!" Zuko shouted, causing her to turn and her sharp eyes to glare at him.

"No mortal commands me!" She spun around and fire was released with each of her movements. It rose up and devoured her quickly. In front of Zuko stood a flaming figure of Hellfire. Nearly twenty feet high the flame made woman towered over Zuko. "**GO BACK TO HER BEFORE I DECIDE TO MAKE YOU INTO _ASH_, BOY!"** Zuko did not back down.

"You do not scare me, Hellfire!" The woman of fire tilted her head to the side before spinning around and making the fire shrink. Hellfire stood in front of Zuko with a dark glare directed at him.

"What is your answer to my riddles?" She asked calmly, surprising the prince of fire.

"Riddles?" His confusion brought out a dark laugh from her. Hellfire began to walk around Zuko, circling him as though he was her prey.

"Do you really think I said anything to you without meaning?" She chuckled darkly again. Prince Zuko looked at the ground, absorbing everything she told him. "Let me make it simple for you, will you choose the path of chaos? Will you lead the world into darkness and chaos? What will you do, Prince Zuko? You have already defied your father by learning what I had to teach you. What will you do next?" Zuko looked up at her.

"I will do what is needed." Hellfire narrowed her eyes at his answer.

"You will not dodge the question."

"I think I've finally realized what you did." He muttered to himself, low enough for her to not hear him. Meeting her gaze, Prince Zuko spoke in his normal volume. "Take me to the Avatar and you will see."

* * *

The guards at the walls of Omashu stood silently at the entrance. They were not prepared for the appearance of a scarred prince and his former master. Both guards jumped as the two suddenly appeared in front of them. Hellfire stepped back and crossed her arms, watching her former pupil.

"Open the entrance." Zuko commanded them. A fire burned brightly in his eyes. The two guards, not thinking they would see the prince again, did not know what to do. "NOW!" The braver of the two stepped forward.

"King Bumi will have to decide whether or not to let you in-"

"I said now!" Zuko yelled as fire erupted from the ground all around. Hellfire watched curiously as he held up his hand at the entrance. A ball of fire began to ground in his palm. It grew larger and larger. The two guards stepped back in surprise. The scarred prince of the Fire Nation sent the ball of fire hurtling forward.

* * *

Katara looked up in the direction of the city entrance along with Aang. A huge explosion just occurred at the entrance of Omashu.

"What was that?" Katara asked Aang who could only shake his head.

"I have no clue. I'm going to check it out." Without waiting for Katara to say anything, he dashed off towards the entrance. Katara took a step forward in that direction.

"Going somewhere?" Katara gasped as she turned to face Hellfire. The older woman stood up on the roof of a store with her arms crossed.

"Hellfire! You're the one attacking the city?" Hellfire shook her head to Katara's accusation.

"Actually, no. I'm only here as a spectator." Before Katara could react, Hellfire disappeared and reappeared in front of her. She grabbed Katara and the next thing that Katara knew was that she was standing ten feet from the entrance, outside of the city. She watched in horror as Zuko walked through the flames, towards the city.

"Zuko!" Aang came to a halt He wasn't expecting to see the prince again. Golden eyes landed on the Avatar and a smirk worked its way onto his face. "What are you doing here? I thought Hellfire kidnapped you."

"Kidnapped?" Zuko echoed, amused. "No, Hellfire would not do that to me. I am like her son. And she is like my mother." He clenched his fist and a large blast of fire spurted out. Aang watched him warily, unsure of what to do. Neither of them noticed Katara and Hellfire watching. Zuko widened his stance and began to move his arms about quickly, just like when he attacked Hellfire while she was posing as Yumi. Aang, recognizing the move, jumped up in the air and twirled his staff. He landed and slammed his staff's end into the ground, sending a massive blast of air towards Zuko. The young firebender jumped up into the air and spun around, releasing fire as he moved. The fire and air clashed, creating a small explosion as they canceled each other out.

Aang watched in horror as Zuko landed and continued to move his arms about before finishing the move. A huge fire dragon rose up from the ground and took to the sky. The Avatar took a small step back as the dragon reached its highest peak of its flight and dove down straight towards him. The young monk brought up a large rock and tried to block the fire dragon with it but the dragon only changed its course. It began to circle Aang and Zuko. The entire time, Zuko watched without a shred of emotion. It was then that a voice rang out through the battlefield.

"Zuko! What do you think you are doing!" Zuko glanced at the source. His uncle had just arrived.

"I am going to retrieve my honor." Zuko looked back to the Avatar as the dragon circled them, enclosing the two in the area. Aang pointed his staff at the teenage prince with a fierce look in his eyes.

"I know what happened to you, Zuko. I know that honor means a lot in the Fire Nation. But do you really want to condemn the world?" Aang shouted over the roar of the fire. Zuko's eyes hardened.

"You think you know?" He whispered harshly. His voice just carried over the fire's roar. "You know NOTHING!" He yelled as he stomped his foot and commanded the fire dragon to attack the airbender. Aang sent a powerful blast of air at the dragon and kept on sending a large stream of air towards it as it kept on flying at him, slowly dying. The dragon died just before it got to Aang.

"Well, it looks like my brother has truly dropped to a new low." Everyone's attention snapped towards the new voice. Walking towards everyone, the Fire Nation's princess smirked before coming to a stop with a group of soldiers behind her. She placed a hand on her hip and shifted most of her weight to that foot. Zuko glanced quickly at Zula before looking back at the Avatar.

"Go running back to father. I am about to finish my quest."

"My quest, now, big brother." She crossed her arms as she spoke. Zuko turned and faced Zula. No emotion showed on his usually angry face.

"I'll give you a new quest." A wicked smirk crossed his face. "Go back to Ozai and tell him that Zuko knows everything. Tell him that Hellfire has finished teaching Zuko everything he needs to know to take back his crown. By force, if needed." An indignant look was plastered on Zula's face.

"How dare you-"

"I dare," Zuko cut her off. "because I am on a level that is beyond Ozai." Zula gritted her teeth and dropped into a fighting stance.

"You dare insult the Fire Lord? I will show you why you can never beat our father, brother dear!" Zuko raised his eyebrow in amusement at his sister.

"And why is that?" he asked. A huge fire wall rose up from the ground and separated the soldiers Zula had brought with her from everyone else.

"Because you can't beat even me! I'm the prodigy, not you! You had trouble just producing a flame while I was already learning the basics." She sent a blast of fire at Zuko. Zuko batted away the ball of fire with ease.

"You forget, Princess Zula," Everyone looked towards Hellfire, finally noticing her. Katara had managed to get several feet from her. "Prince Zuko was a prodigy at learning what I had to teach while you couldn't do anything. And now I have taught him all I can." Zula stared at Hellfire in confusion before she recognized who the woman was.

"Hellfire! You she-demon! How dare you show yourself in my presence!" Hellfire chuckled darkly.

"Demon? Is that honestly all you mortals can come up with?" Hellfire moved to take a step forward by Zuko's words stopped her.

"No." Hellfire looked back at Zuko. "She's mine Hellfire. I intend to settle who is stronger." Zula frowned before sending several balls of fire at Prince Zuko. The teenage boy side stepped the fireballs. Zula kept up her barrage, all the while move in closer to her brother. "If you think that you can get close enough and give me another scar," Zula spun around when Zuko disappeared and reappeared behind her. "Then you are sorely mistaken." Zuko kicked Zula in the stomach and she went flying up into the air.

Zula managed to twist in the air and land on her feet. She charged forward and jumped into the air while kicking out. Fire shot forth, streaming towards Zuko. With a defiant smirk, Zuko finally began to use fire against his younger sibling. Zuko kicked out, fire springing to life and flew towards Zula. It devoured her massive flame and kept on going. Zula brought up her arms as a look of horror was etched into her face. She squeezed her eyes shut as the enormous flame her brother produced came towards her. However, she felt to strong hands grip her and the heat that was coming towards her disappeared. She felt the ground underneath her and she looked up to see Zuko staring down at her without a shred of emotion. Narrowing her eyes, Zula rolled forward and turned to face him.

"Saving me was a mistake." She sent a blast of fire at him to which he only disappeared from its path.

"Go warn Father. Tell him, Zuko is coming back home." That was all she heard before her world went dark.

* * *

"I'm impressed, Prince Zuko. You beat your sister, the firebending prodigy." Hellfire smirked as she glanced at Zula. The young princess laid on the ground, unconscious from the blow to the back of her head from Zuko. Zuko stepped back, away from Zula's prone figure. He glanced at the soldiers as the firewall dropped down to the ground.

"I suggest taking her back to the Fire Nation capital." Zuko turned back the Avatar. "I'm taking the Avatar back to the capital myself."

"Zuko! No!" Katara ran and positioned herself in front of the airbender with her arms spread out, blocking Zuko's path. Zuko paid no attention as Zula was picked up and carried away quickly by her soldiers.

"Step aside, Katara. I do not want to hurt you." His words were so calm that it scared her.

"NO! I won't let you! You can't take away the world's only hope! It's Aang's job to restore that balance!" Zuko scoffed at her words.

"His job? Please! A child is going to stop my father? I highly doubt it. He's a ruthless man. No child could stand a chance against Ozai." Zuko pointed up at his scar. "He mutilated his own son's face. He shows no mercy." Iroh glared at Hellfire.

"Hellfire! What have you done to my nephew!" When Iroh demanded an answer, Hellfire only narrowed her eyes and glared at Iroh.

"I am merely here as a spectator. Prince Zuko is the one calling the shots." Zuko sighed and looked over at his uncle.

"Do not blame her, Uncle. She spared mother from committing suicide. I've seen her memories. I know that truth. Now, I must take the Avatar to the Fire Nation and regain my honor."

"Why does your honor matter so much!" Katara felt tears welling up in her eyes. She couldn't believe him! He didn't care about anything but his honor! He probably didn't even care about her! "Is honor all you care about?" The deadly fire that had been burning in Zuko's eyes died slightly as he looked away.

"I . . . . without honor, what do I have?" He looked up with a renewed fire. Hellfire shook her head as she watched Zuko. "I am from the Fire Nation. In the Fire Nation, honor is what matters."

_'Which is why Zuko's mother killed herself.' _Hellfire thought silently as the events unfolded in front of her. Zuko looked at Katara sternly.

"I don't want to hurt you, Katara. Step aside and let me finish my battle with the Avatar."

"No! Aang, get out of here, now!" Aang looked up at Katara, surprised when she yelled at him to leave.

"There is no water here, Katara. You won't stand a chance against me." Zuko insisted as Katara glared at him. "Stand down."

"I won't let you become your father's pawn." Katara muttered as she dropped into a fighting stance. "And I don't need water to fight you. No bending! That is, if you are man enough to face me without it."

"Katara, it's okay. I can-" Katara cut Aang off.

"I have to do this, Aang. I have to try and save Zuko." She muttered the last part to herself. Hellfire tilted her head to the side as her inhuman hearing picked up the last bit. A soft look fluttered over her features before it was replaced with a hardened look towards Zuko.

_'Can I really let him become what his mother asked me not to let him be?' _The darkly clad woman sighed and crossed her arms.

"Katara, I do not wish to have you hurt. Please, move aside." Zuko's voice softened slightly but he still stood firm. He would regain his honor; he had to. Zuko was surprised when Hellfire spoke.

"When you beat the Avatar, what will you do?" All eyes turned to Hellfire. "You have your sister sent back to the Fire Nation as a messenger. You will have to do something while waiting for her to return to the palace and relay your message." Zuko smirked at his former teacher.

"Who said that I was going to leave right away?" He looked at the Avatar. "I'm going to beat him, wait until my sister has returned to the palace, and when the Avatar masters fire, I'll take him to Ozai. I want my honor back." Hellfire began to laugh.

"Prince Zuko, you are full of surprises."

"Wait . . ." Katara looked at Zuko curiously. ". . . . you . . . . are waiting for Aang to master fire?" Zuko stiffened slightly when Katara addressed him but only Hellfire noticed.

". . . . yes. The Avatar is my backup plan."

"Backup plan?" Aang echoed, clearly confused. "What could happen to make me your backup plan?" Zuko answered Aang, but looked at Katara, right in the eyes.

"I plan to fight Ozai for the crown. You are the backup plan for if I lose."


	17. Trust

Trust

Zuko turned back to the last airbender.

"Now, back to our battle." Zuko dropped back into a fighting stance. "Step aside, Katara." The teenage waterbender shook her head.

"No! I'm not gonna step aside so that you can test yourself!" Katara yelled, making Zuko narrow his eyes.

"You think this is about testing myself? I must see that the Avatar can finish the job if I can't." Hellfire sighed and shook her head before moving forward and standing in between the Zuko and the two other benders.

"Enough of this." She glanced at the Avatar and then looked at Prince Zuko. "Dear Prince, you shall be able to test the Avatar at a later time. Now is not the time no is it the place." Crossing her arms in front of her, Hellfire faced Zuko completely. "You cannot tell me that you are not also seeing what your new limits are." She spoke low enough that only Zuko could hear her. "Be careful, my prince, or you will suffer a fate worse than death." Zuko looked at her curiously but before he had a chance to question her, Hellfire turned and faced the crowd of people. Bumi and Sokka were there with at least a dozen guards. The old king looked at Zuko suspiciously as he spoke.

"What do you plan to do, Prince Zuko?" Hellfire glanced at Zuko and saw him frown before looking at her.

"We'll be leaving." Zuko informed them. He turned and started to walk away before Hellfire's voice stopped him.

"Actually," He turned and looked at her while she looked at Bumi and bowed slightly. "We would like to stay."

"WHAT!" Zuko shouted, surprised. He, to his great dislike, was ignored by the old king and his former teacher.

"Well, you destroyed a part of the city walls." Bumi glanced behind him at the rubble before continuing. "But why not?" Hellfire smirked as many of the soldiers and citizens that had gathered frowned in annoyance at their king.

* * *

Zuko stood out on the balcony of his temporary room. The walk to the palace had been in strained silence. In all honesty, he wanted to break it so badly and say _something_ to Katara. He had wanted to see why she had reconciled with the Avatar and her brother. They had betrayed her. But then again, Hellfire did mention something about having a hand in that. Sighing, Zuko crossed his arms. Why she had done that was beyond him. But then again, why Hellfire did a lot of things was beyond him.

A knock broke him out of his thoughts.

"Prince Zuko, may I come in?" Came the muffled voice of his uncle.

"Yes." The door creaked open as Iroh pushed it.

". . ." Zuko turned around to face his uncle after a few minutes of silence. When he did, Iroh rushed forward and gathered Zuko up into a hug. Zuko, not used to such actions, tensed by soon relaxed. "I am glad to see you again."

"I'm glad to see you too." Iroh let go of his nephew and pulled back. After a moment of looking Zuko over and making sure that the prince was alright, he smacked him on his head. "Ow!"

"What do you think you were doing! Making an old man think you were dead! Not one word from you to hint at all that you were still alive! And showing up and causing such a ruckus! I thought I had raised you better than that!" Zuko smiled weakly as Iroh chided him.

"I'm sorry, uncle." Iroh 'hmphed' playfully as he crossed his arms inside of his large sleeves.

"Well, don't do it again." Zuko nodded in response. Silence engulfed the two. Finally, Iroh broke it. "Your mother . . . . really asked Hellfire . . . ." Zuko nodded.

"Yes. Hellfire can only extinguished someone's inner flame if they are willing. That's why she couldn't do that to my father when she tried to take me away." Iroh closed his eyes and nodded.

"I see."

"Uncle . . . ." Zuko trailed off, unsure of how to say what he wanted. Iroh opened his eyes and looked up at him.

"Yes, Prince Zuko?" Zuko was silent for a moment, still trying to figure out how to put what he wanted into words. "Prince Zuko, you can always talk to me." This seemed to alleviate some of the tension.

"Uncle, is what I'm doing right?" Blinking, Iroh looked at his nephew, confused.

"What do you mean, nephew?"

". . . . helping the Avatar. Is that right?" With a great sigh Iroh nodded.

"Yes, your highness. I believe it is right. The world is out of balance and it is Aang's job to restore that balance." Zuko was silent after his uncle finished.

_'If that's true . . . . . then why did Hellfire do it to **me **and not the Avatar?'_ Zuko asked himself as he stared up at the sky.

". . . . thank you, Uncle." Iroh nodded again before looking up at the sky with his nephew. With a sigh, Iroh glanced at Zuko.

"You know, Katara has been worried about you." He watched as Zuko stiffened slightly.

"I . . . . . need to be alone, Uncle." The old man nodded warily and left. After a few minutes, Zuko sighed. "Hellfire, I meant that for you, too." Hellfire appeared on the railing of the balcony. She looked at him with those cold black eyes before rolling them.

"I highly doubt that you should be alone." She dropped down onto the floor and leaned against the railing with her arms crossed, all the while looking at him.

"What you doubt or do not doubt is none of my concern. What is my concern is that you are still here." She waved her hand dismissively.

"What can I say? I was worried."

"But why?" Zuko persisted, causing her to frown.

"My prince, you are the closest thing I will ever get to a son." Hellfire kicked off of the railing to straighten herself. "You were born on the anniversary of the day I came to the Fire Nation. Must I remind you that no other baby has been born on the anniversary of that day? You were born under my power. That is why you can receive that gift I gave you." He looked at her, surprised. It earned him a smirk from her. "Yes, I can read you better than your uncle." Zuko bit down on his lip for a moment before asking Hellfire a question.

". . . . why didn't you tell me Zula was going to be there?" The darkly clad woman sent him a tired glare.

"I am not psychic. How was I to know?" Zuko looked at her out of the corner of his eye.

"You seems to know everything else." Hellfire's response to this was a shrug.

"Eh."

"How did she get here?" Zuko asked, earning a smug look from Hellfire.

"I would imagine the same way you got here with Katara. She probably docked her ship in a nearby port and walked the rest of the way here." He sent her a wry glare.

"Hellfire, why don't you make my life easier and explain why you did it?"

"Why, whatever do you mean?" She asked, looking at him innocently. Zuko closed his eyes with a sigh and shook his head. Hellfire smirked. "I guess you'll just have to figure it out on your own." On that note, she disappeared. Zuko frowned and glared at the spot she once occupied.

"That gets annoying real fast." Sighing, Zuko glanced behind him at the young woman that had sneaked into his room while his uncle was leaving. "And what's even more annoying is people not leaving me alone." Katara frowned and crossed her arms while stepping out onto his balcony.

"Want to know what's really annoying? Having some jerk you care about attack your best friend." She snapped. Zuko raised his eyebrow at Katara as he looked behind him at her.

"I do not need to remind you, Katara, we will never work. It is best if you give up on me now."

* * *

Iroh walked down the hallway and paused briefly.

"Hellfire, is there something you want?" With a smirk, the woman appeared behind the old man.

"You still don't trust me?"

"No." He didn't sugarcoat it. Beating around the bush was not going to get him anywhere with her. He knew it, she knew it. The whole Fire Nation knew it.

"Oh well." Hellfire shrugged it off. It honestly didn't matter to her if he trusted her or not. "Prince Zuko trusts me, that's all that matters to me." Ah, that awful truth. The fact that the love starved boy had finally been considered love by someone other than his uncle. That's was why. It had to be the only reason why Zuko would trust such a creature. "Yet . . ." Hellfire tilted her head to the side with a soft smile. "He's moving to a point where our love isn't what drives him." Iroh sighed and nodded warily. She was right. Zuko was moving on. He had found something else. Even if he was afraid of it, he had still found something else.

"Katara." Iroh muttered silently. Hellfire crossed her arms and looked down the hall towards the room the two teenagers were in.

"She really does care for him." She whispered before looking back at Iroh. "And that's what's going to make it so hard on her when he tries." Iroh looked at Hellfire, confused.

"What's going to be hard for her?" Hellfire smiled but it did not reach her eyes.

"When Prince Zuko pushes her away to try and save her."

* * *

Zuko felt his cheek stinging as a red mark was left from Katara's hand. She glared at him.

"How dare you." Katara hissed. "How dare you decide what I will do or will not do!" Zuko did not reach up to cradle his hurt cheek. He merely stared down at her. No emotion on his face. "Show some emotion, damn it!" Her hand flew forward again but Zuko caught it with ease. She balled her other hand up into a fist and hit him on the chest. "Show something, damn it!" She yelled. "Show that you aren't some heartless firebender! Where's that passion that you held in everything you did! Where's that man who was so formal around me that he asked if it was alright to kiss me! Where's Zuko!" He looked away as she hit him repeatedly on the chest.

"I cannot be with you, Katara."

"Why not!" Demanded the waterbender. Golden eyes looked into her deep blue ones and she saw it. He was tired. Tired of fighting. Tired of being beat down. Tired of losing. He would rather not try at all now. "I see." She whispered. "You've turned into a coward." That brought a roaring fire back into his eyes.

"Coward!" He repeated, surprised. "Coward! I am no coward!" The firebending prince roared.

"Then why are you giving up!"

"I'm about to go into battle! I don't have time to worry about you!" Zuko snapped. This caused him to receive an icy glare.

"I'm a master waterbender! I don't need your protection!"

"My father is a ruthless man!" He admitted. "Look at my face, Katara. Fire hurts. It hurts a hell of a lot more than I ever thought it could. It is a miracle that I still can see out of my eye. But I don't care about that. I can handle being mutated again." He shook his head to rid himself of the painful memories that came floating to the surface with talking about the scar on his face. "But I can't handle losing someone that I care for." Katara grabbed the front of the armor her worn and yanked him down. With a passion worthy of a firebender, she kissed him on the lips. At first he was surprised. Then he was angry. Angry that she would dare kiss him without his permission. But then, something else happened. Something that had never happened to him before. He stopped fighting. For once in his life, Prince Zuko stopped fighting and wrapped his arms around her after letting go of her wrist. He pulled her closer and closed his eyes, enjoying the kiss.

* * *

Silence hung heavy in the air. Iroh watched Hellfire carefully. Finally, the older man broke it.

"You know him very well."

"Of course." She smirked. "While it has been awhile since I've actually been in his life, but I've kept Zuko under my watchful eye." Iroh fell silent once again. "What's wrong, General Iroh?" The old firebender looked up with great sadness in his eyes. So much sadness that it startled her. "General?"

"It was my fault that Zuko was scarred. I was the one that let him into that war chamber." Hellfire looked down, shadows covering her eyes.

"Ozai!" She hissed while squeezing her fist so hard it shook. "It was not your fault. It was _his_." Hellfire looked up with a dark fire burning in her eyes. "I will see to it that he pays for what he did." Iroh shook his head.

"No, Hellfire." Her head snapped over in his direction at his words. "Prince Zuko must be the one to see to that. It is his duty as the Prince of Fire."

"I see." The strange creature known as Hellfire smirked once more. "I will look forward to that." She paused that thought for a moment before asking Iroh a question. "But will you? Your nephew or your brother will die at summer's end." Iroh looked again, saddened once more.

"I do not know. Ozai is my brother but I cannot let him continue with his actions. But I am not the one who will decide what will happen to him. That job lies with Prince Zuko and the Avatar." Hellfire nodded in agreement with Iroh.

"Yes, I understand, Iroh." She sighed and shrugged. "But that doesn't mean that I won't do my best to help." Iroh leveled her with a heavy gaze.

"But why? Why do you care? Was I right before? Are you truly just after Zuko to use him to gain the fire of Agni? Or is it something else?" A serious, cold look entered her eyes with all the question Iroh directed at her.

"If you think that I am using the prince, why not kill me right now?"

"Because many have tried to kill you. You've taken the majority of many of Zuko's assassination attempts and walked without a limp. You don't age. Since you came to the Fire Nation, a hundred years ago, there has not been one baby born on the anniversary of that day other than Prince Zuko. And no one knows just what you are." Iroh pointed out with a cold tone. Hellfire smirked and shrugged once more.

"That all may be true, but that doesn't mean I'm not putting Prince Zuko first."

"You've never put the thought others ahead of yourself. I remember that from when you hung around the palace before Zuko was born, while I was still a child. Why my nephew?" Iroh asked, wanting to know the answer so that if he needed to save Prince Zuko he could do so. Hellfire only laughed.

"My, aren't you curious? But you know that they say," Hellfire disappeared but her voice echoed through the hall. "Curiosity killed the cat."

* * *

Zuko pulled away from Katara. He gently pushed her away from him.

"Please don't do this to me." He whispered. "I . . . . . I don't know . . . . ." Zuko trailed off, not sure of how to tell her.

"You don't know a lot of things." Katara muttered. "But know this, Zuko; I'm not giving up on you." A gentle smile reached her lips as she looked up at Zuko. "I trust you."

* * *

Hello everyone! I'm back, finally! Sorry it took so long, I've had a case of writer's block. Oh well. Anyway, I won't be able to get another chapter done so soon because spring break is coming up and I have to leave to go to California to check out some colleges. Yep, next year I'll be out there and enjoying the sun. Well, not really. I don't like to tan that much . . . . anyway, back to the story. Sorry, but I wasn't too fond of this chapter. I'm losing ideas. Please help me. Thank you for reading and please review. I need the help. 


	18. Truth

Truth

Hellfire pushed her hand forward and shifted her weight so that she leaned forward. The darkly clad woman took a deep breath as she closed her pitch black eyes. The area around her was similar to the one that was in the Fire Palace, except there was no sakura tree. She had found this small garden, hidden away from everyone, two days ago. Two days. That's how long they had been at Omashu. Hellfire spun around quickly, kicking out as she moved and left out fire while her eyes snapped open. Her foot paused in mid air an inch away from Zuko's face.

"You've gotten good," she commented, but he only ignored her praise.

"Why are you hiding in here?" Dropping her foot back to the ground, Hellfire only shrugged.

"I do as I please, you know that." Hellfire jumped up into the air and landed on a tree branch. The leaves and white flowers on the tree shook slightly at the sudden weight. Reaching up, Hellfire pulled a flower off of the tree and looked down at it.

"But you never were very far from me--not if you could help it." Smiling while she sniffed the flower, Hellfire held it away from her face and watched as it ignited into flames. She crushed the flower and extinguished the flame. Zuko watched as Hellfire opened her hand and tilted it to the side to let the burnt remains fall to the ground. "What's the real reason for all this, Hellfire?" She looked down at him with a smirk.

"What's the matter, don't you trust me?"

"It's not a matter of trust, Hellfire, you know that," she narrowed her eyes and soon her look turned into a glare directed towards him.

"Go back to your girlfriend, my prince. Your meddling is not wanted here." Zuko felt his own temper flare.

"Meddling!" He echoed in an angry tone. "This coming from _you_? You can't go two hours without meddling! You are worse than my Uncle!" Zuko pointed at her. "Why is that whenever you get angry, I have to walk on eggshells, but when I get angry, you can just brush it off!" Hellfire landed in front of Zuko and slapped him. His head snapped back to her and he did not flinch when she raised her fist again.

"I should kill you," she whispered darkly.

"Why? Because I'm the only one that dares to speak to you in such a way?"

"Because you are the only weakness I have acquired," she muttered as she turned away, surprising the banished prince.

"What?" He whispered, positive that he heard wrong. Hellfire looked back at him, tears in her eyes.

"You heard right, you are my only weakness," she hissed. "Your mother befriended me before she began to lose her sanity. But she was not a weakness. I could care less about outliving her. But you . . . many times I have stood in between you and harm's way. Many times." the woman repeated with a sigh. "I raised you like you were my own flesh and blood," she smirked to herself, finding it amusing. "And then I had to go and give _it_ to you. Give you the one thing that mattered most." Her eyes moved over his features, committing every single one to memory. Hellfire's eyes lingered on the scar. It did not belong there. "Yet there is nothing I can do. What's done is done." A painful sigh escaped her lips. "Forgive me, my prince. I am only rambling. Pay no attention." She turned to leave but his words reached her ears.

"Hellfire." Turning back to him, Hellfire raised an eyebrow. "You are my mother. You may not have given birth to me, but you are the only mother I can remember. Besides, you said it yourself, you raised me as though I was your own flesh and blood." A joy reached her eyes. Suddenly, Zuko found himself on the receiving end of a hug. She squeezed him tightly before she released him from her grasp and stepped back. The woman he considered his mother looked at him, straight in the eye.

". . . Zuko . . . you will face your father. I cannot do it for you, no matter how much I wish to. I will be there, but you will fight him. When you do . . . remember all that I have taught you. Remember all that matters to you. And most importantly, remember what you have taught yourself." With that, Hellfire disappeared.

* * *

He couldn't think. It was a simple as that. What Hellfire said had confused him greatly. Yes he understood what she was asking him to do, in fact, he was going to do what she told him to do. But the way she said it all, the way she acted . . . ARGH! It caused too much pain to try and figure it all out. 

Zuko moved slowly through his stances, each movement flowing into the next. He pushed forward and then would pull back and shift his weight so that he could spin around. Suddenly, his movements became fast but remained sharp and precise like a cobra. Zuko's footwork became quick, as though he was in a dance. Katara watched silently, blushing as he moved in a deadly dance. Finally he was done with it. He stared at Katara out of the corner of his eye while she blushed. It took him a moment to realize why she was blushing. He was shirtless. A smirk worked its way onto his face.

"Enjoying the view?" He asked coyly, causing her blush to deepen. A small chuckle left him.

"Oh, shut up," Katara snapped as she marched away. She heard him full out laugh as she stormed away, causing her eyes to soften slightly. The waterbender thought he had a wonderful laugh. She shook he head as she left the training grounds Zuko had been practicing in. After a few minutes of walking down the hallway, she spotted a darkly clad figure leaning against the wall. "Hellfire." Katara hissed. She was still angry at the woman for all that she had done. Katara held her head up high and marched straight by the woman.

"Ah, don't be that way." Hellfire cooed as she pushed off the wall and fell in step with Katara.

"What do you want?" Katara demanded, spinning around and point a finger at Hellfire. "You've caused nothing but trouble." Fighting back another sigh, Hellfire looked away.

"It's true, I've caused plenty of trouble. I've nearly gotten you killed several times. But the steps I took . . ." Hellfire looked back at Katara and stared at her straight in the eye. "They were necessary to stop a greater evil."

"The comet?"

"No." Hellfire shook her head. "The comet is . . ." She trailed off, not wanting to reveal the truth.

"Well, what is the comet then?" Katara asked, desiring the truth that Hellfire was denying. The mysterious woman finally gave in after a few moments of debating. Someone had to know. Someone would have to comfort Zuko when it happened.

"Prince Zuko cannot know." Katara raised an eyebrow in surprise. "You may tell no one until the time is right."

"Time is right?" She echoed, confused. "What are you talking about?" Hellfire ignored the question.

"You will only confirm this, I will be the one that will tell everyone. But Prince Zuko will need someone he loves very deeply to explain it to him should time run out. Should he not except this."

* * *

Azula's glared out over her ship. It wasn't fair. Zuko was able to use those forbidden arts! Those arts that she could not even grasp properly. It was the only thing he was good at. She knew that he had to work himself to the bone everyday to even get to where he was with regular firebending. 

"Hellfire . . . that bitch is back and she taught Zuko." She muttered as she walked to the railing.

"Princess!" A guard came up to her.

"What is it!" Azula snapped. The guard hesitated, fearful of her temper. "Well!"

"We'll be entering Fire Nation waters soon, your highness."

* * *

Hellfire looked around to see if there was anyone there. No one was close so she stepped out into the garden she had talked with Zuko in. She bit her lip as she held her hands up to the moon. The comet would be coming soon. 

"Yue . . . I hope that we will be friends. You restored the balance." Hellfire muttered as she lifted up her arms. Spreading them apart, as though she was preparing to catch the moon should it fall from the sky, Hellfire watched the moon. The stars twinkled as Hellfire tilted her head to the side. "I will have to follow a similar path soon." A sad smile found itself on her face. "The Avatar would have been enough . . . but I understand why he sent Zuko to me. Zuko has to take back the throne so that Azula cannot start the war all over again." Hellfire dropped her arms to the side before she began to twirl around, letting out only enough fire to give out a small glow and not set the place on fire.

She danced around the garden in the moonlight. _'Does he talk about me?'_ Hellfire asked silently. _'Is he proud of what I'm doing now?'_ The dance became faster and faster, each step seemed as though she was trying to hang on for dear life. The pin the held her hair up fell to the ground, letting her hair follow her through the dance. Fire snaked its way around her limbs as she moved. It finally ended and Hellfire let herself fall to the ground. "You can come out, Avatar."

Aang rubbed his head sheepishly as he stepped out of the shadows and into the garden. He smiled at her as he sat down next to her lying figure. Silence engulfed the two as they stared up at the moon, waiting for the other one to speak. After Aang realized that she was not going to say anything, he looked at Hellfire and bit his lip.

"Hellfire . . . Iroh said you don't age. That no one knows how long you've been around."

"That is correct. Not even I know how long I've existed." Her voice was monotone. Aang hesitated for a moment but continued on, intent on finding out the truth.

"Do you think I can beat Ozai?" Hellfire looked at him through the corner of her eye.

"You will not be facing Ozai--Zuko will. However, you will be fighting an entire army." Aang glanced Hellfire, curious.

"Why _is _Zuko fighting Ozai? What changed his mind? You?" Hellfire sat up and smiled bitterly.

"No, not even _I_ have that much influence over my prince." She stood up, causing the Avatar to follow suit. "It's the same reason that I separated Katara from you and Sokka." Aang's confusion was evident on his face, making Hellfire chuckle. "Dear Avatar, while it was a gamble, I wanted someone for Zuko to fall in love with. She was his opposite and his equal. She would never let him order her around and she would easily take on Zuko to prove him wrong. I needed someone strong enough for him and gentle enough to protect him. I knew that it could backfire greatly, but it was the only choice I had. Besides, I saw the beginning of a crush. All I had to do was make sure they got together long enough for it to become more." Aang looked away, sad. Hellfire reached forward and rested her hand on his shoulder.

"But . . . why _her_? Didn't you see how I felt about her?" He asked bitterly as he looked back up at Hellfire, tears in his eyes.

"Ah, a sweet young crush," she muttered to herself. "How could I not? But it was not meant to be. She'll never feel that way about you, Aang. She loves you like a brother. Besides," Hellfire wiped away the tear that was trailing down his face. "someone else is meant for you." He slapped away her hand.

"How would _you_ know!" She smiled softly.

"Fire is a passionate thing. I know its ancient arts. And one of those arts can look into the future. Your passion in life has yet to ignite, but it will." Hellfire closed her eyes and held up her hands. Fire roared to life in them. "Let me teach you how to dance with all your passion." She opened her eyes and looked down at him. Aang stared at her, confused.

"I don't understand." Nodding, Hellfire let her fire die down into a small glow.

"Exactly. You don't understand. You will understand once you met the girl for you. You will be filled with a great passion and this feeling you'll want to express. You have no passion like it right now. Do you understand what I'm saying?" He shook his head, making her laugh. "Of course not. You are a young boy, first and foremost. How could I expect you to understand?" She asked herself. "It may hurt now, but the pain will leave. Someone else will take it away. When they do, know that they are the one." She stepped back and picked up the pin for her hair, once again twisting her hair so that it sprayed out behind her head. "It's late. Get to bed." Aang nodded warily and left.

Once again, Hellfire looked up at the moon. "I . . . will miss this."

* * *

How do you like it? Sorry it took so long, my editor had a lot of work from school. Anyway, here it is. Please review and tell me. I had a hard time writing this because of writer's block. It's a up hill battle. Reviews help that battle.  



	19. Beginning

Beginning

"We don't belong here." Zuko's head snapped up and he looked at Hellfire. He had been meditating in front of four candles in the room he was given by King Bumi. Even though he had mastered her techniques, he still meditated and practiced. It was a habit. He had been doing that for so long, he was used to it. Besides, it calmed him and gave him a chance to think.

The young banished prince had not heard her come in.

"I know that, Hellfire. We are from the Fire Nation. We belong in the Fire Nation." Hellfire smiled bitterly and shook her head.

"That is not what I meant." She muttered as she sat beside him. He looked at her curiously.

"Then what did you mean?" The young man asked. Hellfire looked at the flames in front of the two. Her eyes narrowed and the flames died, causing darkness to devour the small room the two were in. "Hellfire?" He felt her pull him into a hug and suddenly, wet drops landed on his shoulder. His eyes widened as he felt the tears through his red tunic. "Are you alright, Hellfire?" He asked with concern overflowing.

"Zuko . . . promise me that you will never give up."

"Hellfire, what are you-"

"Promise me!" She cut him off in a yell.

". . . . I promise you."

"Good." She nodded into his shoulder and the candles lit themselves, revealing no one in the room but Zuko. A scroll was in his hands. Prince Zuko opened the scroll. As his eyes scanned over it, reading it quickly, horror slowly worked its way onto his face. He dropped the scroll onto the ground and let out a roar.

"HELLFIRE!"

* * *

Azula marched into the palace, her eyes set straight ahead. Mentally, she was going over what she had to say to her father. It would be dangerous if it went wrong. After a few moments of briskly walking through the palace, she reached the throne room. Two guards pulled back the curtain for her to enter. She walked down the long carpet to the stairs up to the Fire Lord and got on her knees and bowed.

"Azula . . . . I gave you a task. Where is the Avatar? Where is your brother? Should they not be here in chains?" His voice was cruel and cold.

"Father, Hellfire is back and has taught Zuko." She replied quickly. The fire rose to the ceiling.

"WHAT!" He roared, standing up.

"That's correct, Ozai." Hellfire emerged from the shadows. The guards that were in the throne room rushed at her but Hellfire pulled out her two blades. A guard swung the naginata he had at her. She ducked under it and kicked the guard in the stomach, making him stumble back. Another tried to behead her with a sword but Hellfire blocked the sword with her two blades while kicking out to the side, knocking a sword from another guard's hands. With ease Hellfire pushed back the sword she was blocking with her short blades. In a swift movement she knocked the group of guards back with a spinning kick. Hellfire jumped up into the air and flipped so that she moved farther. Landing in front of the Fire Lord, Hellfire bent back so that she could dodge a flaming punch and flipped away from him. Azula started up the steps but was stopped by the unexpected. Hellfire landed and was bowing in front of Ozai. This threw even Ozai off as he paused in his punch aiming at her head.

"What . . ." Azula trailed off, not sure what to do.

"Ozai . . . it is against my nature to fight the Fire Nation. I cannot fight against the Fire Nation. I am . . . your servant." She stood up straight and stared Ozai dead in the eyes. Ozai narrowed his eyes, unsure of what to do himself. His daughter looked between the Fire Lord and her brother's former teacher. She, along with everyone in the room, awaited the next move of the Fire Lord.

"Hellfire, you mean to say, you will fight for me?"

"Yes . . . my lord." Once more, Hellfire bowed.

* * *

Iroh looked over the letter to Zuko. The prince of fire had stormed off in rage when everyone came running to his room to see what his shout was about.

"What does it say?" Aang asked Iroh as Momo perched himself on Aang's shoulder.

"Hellfire will be fighting for Ozai."

* * *

Zuko pressed his hands together before throwing them down to the side, fire trailing his movements. The prince began to move forward but only to flip backwards. He punched out as he landed, followed by a crouch and a sweeping kick that had enough force to cause him to spin around. Zuko placed his hands on the ground as he did this and put his weight onto his hands, pushing off and flipping into the air once more. He landed and kicked out behind him, flame shooting off into the air. Before he let his foot drop, her pivoted around and punched out, causing a flame to trail his foot and a burst of fire to erupt from his fist. Zuko rolled forward and sprung up into a standing position with an uppercut to his imaginary opponent. He followed with a kick to the side and a punch to the other side. Zuko spun and landed in another crouch. With a stomp forward, Zuko rammed his fists into the air beside him. Finally, he let his arms fall to his side and looked at the training grounds he had been practicing in. Small fires were everywhere.

"Are you done?" His head snapped over to look at the entrance to the training grounds. Katara stood at the entrance with her arms crossed. Zuko closed his eyes and breathed deeply and concentrated. The fires died. Opening his eyes, Zuko looked back at Katara with narrowed eyes.

"What are you doing here?" Katara stepped out into the training grounds, looking around. Scorch marks littered the area.

"Well, your temper's still strong as ever."

"Answer the question, dammit!" Zuko snapped. Her eyes turned to him with a cold glare.

"Don't you _dare_ swear at me and try to boss me around." she hissed. "Just because Hellfire is going to fight for Ozai, doesn't mean-"

"Don't try and act like you know anything!" Zuko cut her off with a yell. "You don't know anything about what I feel like!" Her eyes softened as she saw the pain in his own eyes. Anger, frustration, pain, betrayal . . . his toughened mask was cracking. The mask he had worn since the day he woke up after the Agni Kai and saw the results. It was the only thing that stopped him from going insane. His perfect little mask was breaking.

"Then tell me. Don't pretend with me, Zuko. Tell me how you feel . . . tell me everything." Narrowed eyes gazed at her with suspicion.

"Why?" Katara smiled softly.

"Because I love you."

* * *

Hellfire walked down the hallway with a annoyed expression on her face. Following her were ten guards. Ozai had put her under strict watch. He did not trust her and Hellfire did not care. He knew that the second Zuko seized the throne, Hellfire would kill him. Hellfire looked to the side at Azula as the princess stepped into the hallway. She did not stop nor did she slow down. The darkly clad woman walked right by her.

"That's no way to treat the crowned princess." Azula snapped. Hellfire stopped and turned to face her.

"While I fight for your father, I do not bow to you. Ozai is the Fire Lord at the moment. That is the _only _reason I bow to him." Fury was etched on Azula's face.

"HOW DARE YOU!" She screeched and threw a fireball at Hellfire. Hellfire only batted the ball of fire to the side and stared at Azula, bored.

"Do not think that you can stand against me, Azula. After all, your own brother beat you and you are the prodigy firebender." With that, Hellfire turned and walked away. Azula balled up her fist and was ready to throw another fireball at the strange woman but was stopped by Hellfire's words. "I am the best firebender your father has. Besides, where is the honor in attacking your opponent from behind?"

* * *

"You . . . love me?" Zuko repeated, not sure what to do. Katara smiled and nodded.

"Yes, I love you and all your little faults. I love your temper. Your stubbornness. Your obsessive nature. I love your passion. Your refusal to give up. Your compassion. Everything." She walked up to Zuko and he leaned down. The prince captured her lips and kissed her passionately. After a moment, she pulled away. "Now, why don't you tell me everything." Zuko looked away as he remembered.

". . . she . . . in almost every sense of the word . . . was my mother. And now, she has decided to give up on her failure of a son, if she is even kind enough to call me that now."

"Zuko!" Katara gasped. "You are _not_ a failure! Look at all you've done! You were able to beat your sister!" Zuko bowed his head in shame.

"Only because I used the forbidden arts. If I was truly worthy for the title of Fire Lord, then I would have been able to use normal firebending and beaten Azula. Then maybe . . . Hellfire would have stayed." Katara rushed forward and pulled Zuko into a hug. She bit her lip as he held her tight, holding onto her as if she was his only lifeline. Perhaps she was.

". . . I used to think . . . that if the moon spirit and ocean spirit wanted waterbenders . . . then my mother wouldn't have been killed." she whispered softly. Katara felt Zuko stiffen. He was surprised that she was sharing this with him. Yet he was confused as to how she thought this would comfort him. "I thought that being a waterbender was a bad thing. Then my grandmother told me . . ." Katara fought back tears. ". . . she told me that it was part of me. It was something that I could not deny. Gran-Gran said that if I wasn't suppose to bend water, then the spirits wouldn't have given me the ability to bend. It was meant to be." Zuko felt her release him and pull back. She wiped away her tears that had escaped her eyes. "You are meant to be a firebender, Zuko. You are meant to learn the special style that Hellfire taught you." Zuko looked into her eyes and felt . . . peace. He understood what she meant.

". . . thank you." he whispered. ". . . I understand what I must do."

* * *

Yay! Another chapter! Soon Zuko's going to go to the Fire Nation and fight his family! What will happen? What did Hellfire say in her letter? All these questions will be answered! I . . . just need some creativity at the moment. It appears that I need a muse. I have an idea for another story all geared up but I want to finish this one first. Please, review and tell me what you think and how I can make my story better. Thank you. 


	20. Pain

Pain

Hellfire watched as the sun rose. She inhaled deeply and looked back at the guards on the ground. At the moment, she was standing on a wall that surrounded the palace. She only had a few guards as opposed to the small platoon she had a week ago. In that week, she had quietly meditated and waited. And now, the waiting would be over.

"Tell Lord Ozai that the battle will soon begin." They all exchanged glances, making Hellfire narrow her eyes. "Now, you fools!" She looked back at the sky as one of the guards hurried off. _'Zuko . . . come to me and prove that you are the one . . . the one fit to lead this nation.'

* * *

_

"Are you sure?" Aang asked Zuko as they flew over the open water towards the Fire Nation. "How can the five of us take on the entire Fire Nation's army?" Zuko sat at the back of the saddle with his eyes closed. Iroh looked up from his spot on the side next to Katara and waited for Zuko's answer. Sokka spoke before Zuko could answer.

"I'm sure that if we just dodge the fireballs coming at us from each direction then we'll just have to take on your prodigy sister, your immortal teacher, and your sadistic father AFTER FIGHTING OUR WAY THROUGH THE ENTIRE ARMY!" Sokka nearly screamed. Zuko cracked one eye open and looked at Sokka through it.

"I'll take on my father, otherwise there will be question as to who will lead after he is beaten," he heaved a sigh and opened his other eye to look ahead at the Avatar. "Aang . . . you are a fully realized Avatar . . . all you have to do is clear a path for me to get to Ozai." Zuko turned his amber gaze to Katara and Iroh then Sokka. "The three of you will have to take on Azula and Hellfire." Katara's eyes softened when he mentioned the woman who was, for lack of a better word, his mother.

"Wait, Aang is suppose to hold off an entire army after clearing the way for you?" Sokka asked and continued before giving Zuko a chance to answer. "There's no way Aang can do that! He may be the Avatar but-" Zuko cut off Sokka.

"No, once I start fighting Ozai, only Azula and Hellfire will continue fighting. Everyone else will be waiting for the outcome of the duel." Zuko looked up at the sky. He was wearing his armor as well as Iroh. Even though the two would be fighting the Nation, they would not wear another Nation's color. The two relatives were firebenders, simple as that. They would fight as firebenders.

* * *

Hellfire looked down from her tree as Azula entered the garden. It was barren, nothing left except the charred remains of the sakura tree as had trained Zuko by so many years ago. It was the same tree that Hellfire sat in at the moment. The guards were standing a few feet away from the tree, watching her, as always.

"What do you want, Azula?" The princess narrowed her eyes.

"Still you defy me? When I am named Fire Lady, I will put you to death. If father doesn't do that before hand." Hellfire began to laugh. "What do you find so funny?"

"Azula, if you think that you will be named Fire Lady, then you are mistaken." Hellfire slid off of the tree and landed with a soft thud. "I know that Zuko will destroy Lord Ozai. I have taught the boy everything I know." Azula sneered at Hellfire and raised an eyebrow.

"Then why did you betray him?" Azula demanded. "Is it that you came to your senses and figured out Zuko was a failure?" Hellfire shook her head with a smirk.

"My prince is gifted. You cannot defeat him now. Soon, this war will end." It was now Azula's turn to smirk.

"Yes, because the comet is coming in a few days." Hellfire scoffed at Azula's words.

"Azula, if you truly think that then I worry about you. The comet will not bring the end of the war. No, if fact, I doubt that we will live to see the comet." Hellfire smirked as Azula frowned.

"And what makes you think that, Hellfire?" Azula wanted to know what went on in that insane mind of hers. She wanted to know why Hellfire betrayed Zuko and why Hellfire was certain that they would not live long enough for the comet to come. Hellfire smiled and stepped around Azula. She began to walk away but not before whispering something in her ear.

"Because Agni is going to kill us."

* * *

Zuko stepped off of Appa. His foot sunk into the soft soil of the beach as waves came running up to meet him. This was the Fire Nation. He breathed in deeply, taking in air that his lungs had forgotten after three years. The wind blew as Katara stepped onto the nation's soil. Zuko watched as his uncle stepped off of Appa's tail and looked around. A small smile came to Iroh's old face.

"We have to get moving." Zuko ordered. Katara looked up at him, surprised.

"Are you sure? I doubt that anyone has spotted us. There were no barricades like the last time we came. And we haven't caught sight of any ships." Zuko looked away from Katara and narrowed his eyes as he stared inland.

"Because Hellfire knows we're coming. So does Ozai. My father wants to crush us in front of him." He squeezed his hand into a fist and a small burst of fire came out. "But we're not flying in like everyone thinks we will. We'll sneak into the palace."

"So . . . we leave Appa and Momo here?" Aang asked, uncertain of leaving his animal guide.

"No. I doubt we'll be able to get close enough without them." Zuko turned to Aang. "We'll only get as close as we can without being spotted then we'll fly through. It will surprise them." Zuko pointed inland. "We'll be going on land to the palace. The capital is by the bay and we'll be forced to deal with the Navy as well as the Army but I just need to get to my father." His eyes were lit with fire. "Then I'll defeat him and take back my throne."

* * *

Hellfire listened in the shadows as the war council talked.

"We have reports of the Avatar coming to the Fire Nation." An old man informed the Fire Lord who sat upon his chair with fire surrounding him.

"Rumor has it that he is a fully realized Avatar now." Another piped up.

"Is he, Hellfire?" Ozai turned his attention to her as she stepped out of the shadows. Hellfire couldn't keep a smirk of her face as she crossed her arms and looked at the generals and admirals.

"Why else would the Avatar come to the Fire Nation?" The fire rose dangerously high.

"Do not answer my question with a question, Hellfire. Does the Avatar know all the elements?" Ozai hissed.

"Yes, Avatar Aang has mastered all the elements." A collective gasp took the air out of all the high ranking men's lungs. "And Prince Zuko is coming with him, intent on taking his throne back. He is a master in the forbidden arts." Hellfire added. If possible, the men's faces grew more pale.

"Zuko will be no threat." Azula announced as she stood up from her spot. Hellfire glanced at Azula with a raised eyebrow.

"Really now? And how is that? Last time you fought him, you lost." Hellfire snickered, making Azula narrow her eyes in anger. Sparks of lightening erupted from her fists.

"I've know a new trick. Also, I learned from my mistake. I will not underestimate him again." Azula bit out.

"Really, Azula," Hellfire chided. "if you think Zuko is going to bother fighting you, then you are mistaken. He has already beaten you. The prince has bigger fish to fry." Hellfire looked up at Ozai, causing everyone else to look up at the Fire Lord. "Prince Zuko is going to challenge Lord Ozai to an Agni Kai for the throne."

* * *

Hellfire walked briskly through the halls. Ozai didn't bother with any guards now. He was too busy getting everyone ready for the battle that would come. Stopping suddenly, Hellfire looked out a window to her right. She walked over to it and stared at the setting sun. Closing her eyes with a sigh, Hellfire bit her lip. What was she to do? With a heavy sigh, Hellfire thought of her old friend.

_'Fumiko . . . I'm sorry that I didn't save your daughter liked you wanted . . . but I will cleanse her of her darkness before we die.'_ Hellfire opened her eyes and fire roared to life in her dark eyes.

"I promise you that."

* * *

Soon the big battle is gonna come up! Sorry that this is such a short chapter. Don't worry, things will get wrapped up soon enough. Please review and tell me what you think. Ja ne! 


	21. Battle

Battle

_'Zuko . . . you have my gift . . . please, end this.'_ Hellfire prayed as she stepped out of the shadows and bowed before Ozai. Azula stood off to the side, along with a few guards. Other than that, the throne room was empty.

"Hellfire, I will take care of Zuko. You will face the Avatar."

"I understand . . . my lord." With that, Hellfire disappeared in a swirl of fire. Azula sneered as she looked at the spot Hellfire once occupied.

"Do we really need her, father?" Azula asked as she bowed before her father. Ozai stared down at Azula.

"Unfortunately, yes. Do not worry. We will kill Hellfire before the comet arrives. All we need her for is to finish off the Avatar. That, my daughter, will be your job." Azula smirked and looked up.

"Thank you, father."

* * *

Aang raised his arms and a giant wave rose up into the air. The soldiers that were fighting him backed up. His arms cut through the air as he swung them down, the wave pouring down and engulfing everyone. As the water spread out, lowering and revealing the soldiers laying on the ground, Aang froze the water and encased the soldiers in ice to keep them busy. Zuko ran past Aang and up the palace steps as the soldiers were kept busy by the Avatar. Iroh and Sokka were close behind him.

"You two need to take care of Azula!" Zuko called over his shoulder.

"Why two of us on your sister and not on Hellfire?" Sokka asked Zuko.

"I'll tell you later, for now, just keep her busy!" Zuko answered right before flipping up into the air and back to above a blast of lightning. He glared up at the source of the lightning. "Azula!"

"Big brother," Azula purred in a sickeningly sweet tone. "how . . . pleasant to see you again." Lightning cracked around her fingertips. She took a fighting stance and lightning followed her every movement.

"Go, Prince Zuko. Sokka and I will handle her." Iroh commanded and Zuko nodded, disappearing from sight in a swirl of fire.

"Do you really think that you can stop me, Uncle?" Sokka pulled his boomerang back and hurled it at Azula.

"I think the answer is yes." Sokka snapped as Azula moved her head to the side and smirked while the boomerang flew past her head.

"Some use that weapon is!" However, she wasn't prepared for when it came back and smacked on the back of the head. She growled and stomped her foot down on the fallen boomerang. "Insolent peasant!"

* * *

Hellfire watched the flame grow in her hands. Once again she was in the sakura tree. Perched on a thick branch, Hellfire leaned against the trunk of the tree. She squeezed her fist shut and extinguished the flame. Slowly Hellfire stood up and looked at the sky.

_'Send me home, Zuko. Come and bring about the end.'_ Hellfire thought as she closed her eyes and bowed her head.

"It has begun." Hellfire jumped off of the tree as a water whip struck where she had been standing. "Why would you destroy a tree that has been so frequent in Zuko's memories?" She looked up at Katara who stood on the wall. Hellfire could not see the three barrels of water Katara had Appa drop off before she came. It was enough to give Katara a good offense and Aang had promised to try and bring as much water into the palace as he could. But in the mean time, those barrels would have to do. Hellfire couldn't help but smirk as she listened to the distant sounds of battle. Guards yelled to each other, men cried out in pain as death swooped down and took them. The sound of rumbling earth, the crackling of fire, the harsh blowing of wind, and the splashing of water from the bay . . . it all meant one thing: the Avatar was here. A knowing smirk came to her face. "Tell me girl, how does Prince Zuko plan to win this war?" Katara got into her stance and moved her arms through the air. Icicles shot through the short distance between Hellfire and Katara. The firebender merely let out a wave of fire to melt the icicles. However, she wasn't prepared to see another wave of icicles coming towards her.

Hellfire flipped away from the icicles and glared up at Katara. "I see. You came prepared. Prince Zuko must have told you what I gave him." Katara nodded.

"Yes. Zuko told me everything." Hellfire nodded in a sad acknowledgment.

"I . . . did not doubt that. I knew that he would not keep it a secret when I came to fight for the Fire Nation." Hellfire smiled up at Katara. "My dear Prince Zuko . . . you made him promise not to abuse the power?" Katara lifted her arms up into the air, bringing up a stream of water from behind her.

"I didn't have to. I trust Zuko." Hellfire dodged the water whip and ran towards Katara.

"So do I. I trust him to let me go home after he wins." Hellfire kicked off of the lone tree and flipped up into the air. With ease she landed on the wall. Katara lashed out with her water at Hellfire's feet, hoping to trip her. "I'm suppose to fight the Avatar. But I guess that I'll have to deal with you first." However, Hellfire flipped forward and used her hand to push off so that she landed with ease in front of Katara. Yet the waterbender was prepared. She splashed Hellfire with water and froze her. "You know that that won't stop me." The female firebender raised her body temperature and the ice melted. Hellfire threw a punch but Katara ducked under it and backed away. "But you aren't trying to hurt me, only delay." Hellfire muttered to herself.

* * *

Zuko ran as fast as he could. He had to finish this. He had to end this war. It had destroyed his mother . . . it had turned his sister into a heartless creature . . . it had cost him Hellfire. Zuko saw the throne room coming up and threw out his fist, letting fire erupt from it. The doors burst into flames and Zuko barreled through the fiery doors. Halting, Zuko glared up at the throne. Upon the throne sat Fire Lord Ozai. The infamous Fire Lord looked down upon his son.

"You've finally come, Zuko." Ozai stood up and began to walk down the stairs. "But what a disgrace you come back as." Ozai smirked as he began to pick at Zuko. "Siding with the Avatar? Treason. Learning the forbidden arts after I told you not to? Treason. And last but not least, loving a waterbender. Treason." Zuko's eyes widened as Ozai uttered the last bit while stepping off of the steps. "What, you think Hellfire would keep that from me? That bitch serves me now." Zuko narrowed his eyes and dropped into a deep stance. "No words this time? No begging for mercy?" Ozai let out a hollowed laugh. "Very well. But this time, I will not let you off with only a scar. Your precious little waterbender will weep over your dead body!"

* * *

Hellfire looked down at Katara. The waterbender was panting heavily and all her water had been evaporated. Aang still had not been able to bring any water to the palace.

"I won't kill you. It would hurt him too much." Hellfire's statement caused Katara to glare up at her. She knew who Hellfire was talking about.

"Why? You betrayed him already. What's stopping you?" Hellfire bowed her head in shame at Katara's words.

"Oh, Katara. How I wish that things were so simple. Do you think I want to serve the man who hurt my precious prince? The man that took half his face and marred him? The man that has driven my prince to near insanity?" Hellfire shook her head. "No. I do not want this. But I cannot fight the Fire Nation. It would . . . destroy my father should I do that." Hellfire knelt down and cupped the side of Katara's face before Katara yanked her head away. Hellfire sighed as she stood up. "I'm not one of them. I'm not like the Fire Nation's Lord. I do not want this war." Hellfire lifted up her hand and fire came to life in it. "My father sent me here for a reason. I did not realize that reason until I met Prince Zuko." Hellfire let the fire die in her hand as she realized there were no sounds of war. No fighting, no clashing of elements. Everything was still. Katara also noticed this.

"It's not to late, Hellfire! Zuko is fighting Ozai!" Katara struggled to stand up. _'I don't care about the pain anymore! I have to get her to realize that she's needed by Zuko!'

* * *

_

So, it's all coming to an end. But the question I bet you are wondering is what will happen? Well, you can review and tell me what you think will happen.


	22. Fathers

Fathers

Hellfire looked down at Katara.

"It is too late. You are a foolish girl if you think that I can do anything other than what the Lord of Fire commands of me."

"What about when you killed Fumiko?" Katara snapped. "That was of you own choice. I doubt that Ozai would have ordered you to spare her from herself." Hellfire narrowed her eyes. Katara had struck a raw nerve. The woman's temper flared as she snarled.

"Insolent whelp!" Hellfire hissed. Fire ignited around her fists. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't burn you to ash!" Katara did not back down, instead, she only glared at the darkly clad woman. She couldn't back down, not if she was to save him, save Zuko. She loved him and trusted him but she did not think that he could take on his own father without some back up. At the very least it would ease her own mind.

"Zuko's fighting Ozai. Zuko's proving that you don't have to do everything your father says, whoever he is!" Fire crackled around Hellfire's wrists. Katara did not pay attention to it and continued. "He's fighting to free you! He's fighting to free the Fire Nation." Katara whispered the last part but Hellfire still heard it. The sparks around Hellfire died. Hellfire looked away, thinking. The young waterbender seized the opportunity and continued. "He loves you. Zuko . . . loves you and wants to free you and his nation. He's going against the very man he spent his entire life trying to please. He's going against his father. Why can't you?" Hellfire looked up at Katara with a sad smile.

"My father . . . I do not know what he thinks of me. All I know is that he wants the best for this nation." she whispered quietly to Katara. The two masters stared at each other, both trying to find an answer. Finally, Katara found the answer Hellfire was looking for.

". . . Zuko is best for the nation." Hellfire bowed her head and thought once more. Waiting for a response, Katara stepped forward only to have Hellfire step back. The firebender looked up with newfound determination in her eyes. Nodding to herself, Hellfire took another step back as she slowly turned.

"You're right. I don't care what my father, Agni, thinks of me, anymore. I've got to help Prince Zuko!" Hellfire turned around completely and dashed into the castle. Katara stood there, rooted to the spot by Hellfire's words. Hellfire . . . Zuko's Hellfire . . . was the Fire God's daughter? How was that possible?

* * *

"I made a promise to your mother." Hellfire whispered to herself as she ran down the endless corridors. "And I intend to keep it."

"_My daughter . . . her name is Azula." The ageless Hellfire looked down at the bundle cradled in Fumiko's arms. The two women stood in the garden as Zuko played with a komodo rhino figurine. The soft wind blew, making Fumiko pull Azula closer to keep her warm. After a moment, the wind died down and Fumiko blew a strand of hair out of her face. The light red blanket shifted slightly before a sound began to emit from it; a cry. Hellfire winced and shook her head._

"_She's a noisy brat." Hellfire muttered. However, Fumiko heard and glared up at Hellfire._

"_Hellfire! She's my daughter!" Hellfire shrugged as she crossed her arms. She truly did not care. This child was not born under her power. Why should she waste her time on someone who would be of no use to her?_

"_So? I'm not impressed." Hellfire mumbled, making Fumiko sigh and look at Hellfire._

"_I don't care. She's my daughter. I love her."_ _Fumiko smiled down at Azula. "I hope she will help end this pain." Tear wield up in Fumiko's eyes. "She and Zuko need to end this pain. End it so that I will be the last mother to fear this war."_

Hellfire glanced to her side and saw Sokka and Iroh laying on the ground. Coming to a halt, Hellfire rolled Iroh off of his stomach and onto his back. She held her hand over his heart and closed her eyes. Where was it? Where? Her brow furrowed in concentration. It had been a long time since she did this. There! A strong inner fire still burned within him! Hellfire fought back a sigh of relief. Iroh was still alive. She glanced over at Sokka. The boy's chest rose and fell in a steady rhythm. Good, he was alive too.

Hellfire stood up with determination burning in her eyes. _'Azula must have gone ahead.'_ Narrowing her eyes, Hellfire pushed herself to go faster. _'Damn! Now's a bad time to have given away most of my powers!'_ Her legs began to throb. She didn't know how long she had been running at top speed. Hellfire's side had started to ache a long time ago but she ignored it. It didn't matter to her anymore. Nothing mattered, except helping Zuko; helping her son. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the throne room came up into view. The doors had been destroyed and there was a huge crowd. Hellfire had to push her way through the crowd. Halting, Hellfire took in a gasp of air at what she saw.

Zuko stood there, panting heavily as sweat poured down his face. Azula smirked along with Ozai. Both had him cornered as electricity danced at their fingers. Zuko began to move his arms and let out fire but both shot lightning at him. He rolled forward and avoided the blasts but lost concentration on his technique. His family began to move in on him, blasting at him with lightning again. Zuko disappeared and reappeared behind Ozai in the air. Hellfire watched as he spun about and slammed his foot into Ozai's chest as the Fire Lord turned around to face his son. Ozai stumbled back as Azula charged forward and slammed her fist into Zuko's stomach. Zuko was sent crashing into the ground and both he and Ozai struggled to get up. Azula was about to blast Zuko with more lightning.

Narrowing her eyes, Hellfire decided now was the time to make herself known. Now was the time to finally help her son take back his rightful place. "Two on one? Is there any honor in that?" The three firebenders turned their eyes to look at her. Ozai smirked.

"Hellfire, good. I order you to finish off Zuko." Zuko's eyes were shadowed as he looked down and Azula smirked and crossed her arms.

"Finally, she's good for something." Azula laughed. Hellfire took one of her knives and twirled it around on her hand.

"My dear prince, you know I must follow the Fire Lord." She stopped twirling the blade and pulled her arm back before letting it fly as fast as it could. However, Hellfire's blade soared through the air and landed in Azula's chest. Blood gurgled in Azula's mouth. The princess took a step back in surprise and looked down at the blade in confusion. Anger soon replaced the confusion as Azula looked up.

"Trait . . . orous . . . bitch." Azula uttered while Hellfire chanted in another language. The blade melted away and the liquid metal dripped to the floor as Azula burst into flames. Her screams filled the room, causing many to look away. Hellfire looked at Ozai with a glare.

"Zuko is the true Fire Lord." She hissed out at Ozai, sending the man into a rage.

"You little bitch." Ozai hissed as he sent a blast of lightning at Hellfire. The woman watched the lightning come at her, too tired to avoid the blast. A searing pain entered her body. The pain was unbelievable. Opening her mouth, her very essence screamed out in pain. Every nerve stood on end as the blazing pain ebbed away at her mind. The force of the blast had knocked her off her feet and into the air. Everything seemed to slow down as she flew through the air. She could see every shadow in the room. She could count the number of people watching. But she did not care. No, the pain was too unbearable. It ripped away at her very core. It made her want to wither like a worm on a hook but she couldn't. The pain was so great that she couldn't move. Hellfire landed with a thud and did not get up.

Zuko watched everything with wide eyes. He couldn't believe what had happened. No. No! NO! Zuko felt tears rise up in his eyes. A rage bloomed deep in his heart. An uncontrollable rage that ate at everything. How could he? How could he just kill Hellfire! No, Hellfire couldn't be dead. Zuko stood up and clenched his hands into fists. He shook. He shook so hard that Ozai mistook it for crying. "Pathetic, crying for that demon?" Zuko looked up at his father with blind rage.

"How dare you!" Zuko yelled as he began to move his arms about in the familiar pattern, letting out fire as he went. Ozai's eyes widened as he recognized it. Hellfire had once taken out a small army that had threatened to attack the palace with it. Ozai sent a blast of fire and lightning towards Zuko but a wall of stone rose up. The Fire Lord looked over to see the Avatar in an earthbending stance. Katara pushed her way into the front of the crowd with Iroh and Sokka behind her. They spotted Hellfire, laying on the ground, and Zuko. The prince had just finished the deadly move. The stone sank back into the ground and Ozai looked up at his son as the dragon of fire came hurtling towards him. Iroh looked away as the fire consumed his brother.

"Finally, it's over." Hellfire whispered, using most of her strength to do so. Zuko turned to look at Hellfire and didn't waste a moment in going to her side.

"Hellfire! Hang on, Katara can heal you." He started to turn to Katara when Hellfire's voice stopped him.

"No!" Zuko looked back at Hellfire, startled by her refusal. "My dear Fire Lord . . . I knew that I would die when I gave you part of my inner flame." A silent gasp went through the crowd. "I had to . . . for you to truly master my art." A pain surged through her body but she did not wince like she wanted to. Oh how she wanted to. How she wanted to give in and have Katara heal her. Take away the pain that was driving her mad. The pain that was causing black to eat away at her vision. "Aang . . . he can confirm . . . that I am the daughter of Agni." If possible, the little air left in everyone's lungs was sucked out. Zuko stared at Hellfire as she grabbed his hand and held onto it. "Agni . . . took flames from hell and breathed life into them . . . into me." She wheezed, revealing perhaps one of the greatest mysteries to plague the Fire Nation. "The comet . . . is my way back home."

Hellfire smiled weakly, fighting back tears. It hurt to talk but she had to. She had to explain everything. "It was . . . the way I came." Her eyes lost their focus for a second but she made them focus back on Zuko. Not now. She still had to explain. "I . . . am sorry . . . that I hurt you. I thought . . . I thought that I . . . couldn't fight the Fire Nation . . ." She smiled up at him. "I was wrong." Slowly her eyes began to close. ". . . because . . . I could . . . if it was for you . . . my son." Her hand fell from Zuko's grasp and landed on the cold floor with a thud. Hellfire, Prince Zuko's teacher and surrogate mother, daughter of Agni, was dead.

* * *

And so, the mystery of Hellfire is solved. Please review. 


	23. Goodbye

Goodbye

A Fire Lord was in mourning. The woman he considered a mother . . . was dead. She had refused to be healed. She had refused to live. Hellfire was dead and there was nothing he could do except follow the instructions she had left with Katara before she sided with the Fire Nation in an effort to try and please her own father. She was just like him. He had tried to please his own father. He had done whatever it took to please Ozai . . . but in the end, all he could do was watch as Ozai killed his surrogate mother.

A nation was in mourning. Fire Lord Zuko had declared the war over as soon as Hellfire died. They had lost the war. They had lost a princess who was a prodigy. The girl had learned everything she could and still she was no where near her limit when she was killed. The Fire Nation was mourning the loss of Fire Lord Ozai, father of the current Lord. He was perhaps the most vicious of the Fire Lords, but he had been their Lord.

* * *

Wrapped in the finest red and black silk he could find, she burned. Zuko sat on his throne and watched as she burned. No screams came from her throat as they should. No sound. She was dead. She was being sent off to her father. He could not cry. Not in front of his people. Besides, he had nothing left to cry. It had been three days since her death, since she killed his sister and he, his father. Three days of preparing as instructed by Katara. Three days of locking himself up in his new room and only letting in Katara. Three days of crying in Katara's lap as he lost his real mother. It broke his heart to watch her burn. But he could not cry. He had to be strong. Zuko had just ended a century old war. There would be repercussions . . . there would be mistrust . . . there would be battles still needing to be fought, only this time with words and treaties.

Katara watched Zuko as Hellfire burned. Only their small group was here. Everyone else was at Ozai and Azula's funeral. The comet soared over their heads, its bright fire lighting the night. The very comet that would take Hellfire back to her father. The very thing she had thought to be evil. _'Hellfire . . . he's a mess . . .'_ Katara thought as she watched him. _'What am I to do? How can I help him?'_ Biting her lip, Katara turned her gaze back to the corpse that was turning to ash. The woman had . . . brought Zuko and Katara together . . . she had raised Zuko like her own . . . she had killed for him. Closing her eyes, Katara prayed to the Ocean spirit and Yue that Hellfire would be welcomed back by her father, after all the woman had gone through.

For a brief moment, Zuko could have sworn he felt a hand on his scar and lips on his temple. But it was gone faster than the wind. He almost dismissed it completely. However, in the wind a small voice reached out to him. Comforted him on some small level. No, that wasn't right. It comforted him greatly. It soothed his soul. It put his mind at easy.

"_I love you, my dear lord."_

Yes, it was her. He knew it to be her. But she was going. The presence that had always been with him for as long as he could remember, the presence that was Hellfire . . . was gone. As the comet left the sky, so did his mother. Zuko closed his eyes and whispered his goodbyes.

* * *

Aang watched as Hellfire stood next to Zuko. She placed a hand over his scar and kissed him on his temple. With that she began to float up to the sky. Up to the comet. Up away from Zuko, forever and ever.

"_I love you, my dear lord,"_ she called out. Aang felt his heart wrench. That woman . . . he had barely known her. But she had . . . loved Zuko. Aang watched as she turned her eyes to him and waved. He lifted a hand and watched her smile before disappearing. Disappearing along with the comet. Aang turned away from everyone and began to walk away from the small group.

He had thought long and hard about what Hellfire had said that night when he caught her dancing with fire. She was right. It didn't hurt any more to see Katara with Zuko. In fact, he was happy for Katara. But he was even happier for Zuko. Zuko needed someone to take care of him, to mend his heart. And Katara knew what the loss of a mother was like. She would help him greater than anyone else.

"You're the Avatar." Aang looked up and couldn't help but stare. Before him was a beautiful girl with jet black hair and brown eyes. She stood there, in red robes, with her head cocked to one side. "Is there something on my face?" She asked after a moment. Shaking his head, Aang smiled.

"Sorry, I was just surprised. I didn't realize anyone else would come to pay their respect to Hellfire. After all, Ozai's and Azula's funerals are going on right now, aren't they?" She nodded. "Then why did you come?" The girl smiled. She couldn't be more than a month older than him. Well, not including the 100 years in the iceberg.

"I came to pay respect to Hellfire. My mother will be here soon. Along with several other people. They just had to see with their own eyes that Ozai is dead," she explained.

"But . . . I thought everyone hated Hellfire." The girl shook her head at his mistake.

"No, quite the contrary." She laughed when she saw his confused face. "Avatar Aang, Lord Zuko has ended the war that has cost so many people their families. We want to respect the woman who raised him. The woman who gave him the power to end the war."

* * *

"What did you need, Zuko?" Katara asked as she closed the door to Zuko's room. It had been a month since the comet. A month since Hellfire died. A month of Zuko working nonstop to convince the other nations that he meant peace. The tired Fire Lord turned and looked at Katara with a rare smile on his face. The waterbender had to hold back a gasp. This was the first smile he had shown since Hellfire died. "Lord Zuko?" Zuko sat at his desk, having been writing something before she came in.

"Please, don't call me that." Zuko stood up and walked towards her. "Katara, I have wonderful news." Katara tilted her head to the side in confusion.

"What news is there?" He stopped in front of her and cupped the side of her face.

"Your father's been found." Katara let out a gasp as she flung herself into Zuko's arms, tears of joy running down her face. After a moment, Zuko pulled her back, confusing her. She looked up at him with her big blue eyes with questions floating in them. "I . . . I'm having him come here. So I can ask for your hand in marriage." Katara's mouth fell open. The shock was evident and it slowly turned to joy.

"YES!" She nodded and buried herself in his arms again.

"I've learned something from the loss of my mother." Zuko whispered into her hair. "I've learned to never let anything get in the way of being with those that I love."

* * *

Hellfire looked up at a golden dragon as it rested before her. She got on one knee and bowed her head.

"Forgive me for fighting the Fire Nation, but I could not let anything happen to him." She whispered quietly.

"Hellfire," The dragon breathed softly. "Do not bow your head to me. You have always looked up at everyone as though they were your equal. And there is no one above anyone else, not even a god." She looked up at the dragon. She had to face her punishment. She had to or else she would be a coward. And Hellfire would not allow her name to ever be soiled like that.

"What is my punishment for fighting the Fire Nation, Father?" The dragon smiled at her, at least, it looked like a smile. The corner of its lips twitched upward as the dragon rose to its feet.

"Daughter, you have no punishment." The shock was evident on her face, making the great fire dragon laugh. "Hellfire, had you not assisted in helping Zuko against his father and sister . . . all would have been lost. Then you would have been punished." Tentatively, Hellfire rose to her feet.

"Father . . . you sent me Zuko . . . why?" The fierce eyes of the dragon softened as it looked at its daughter, the very being it breathed life into after sculpting her from flame.

"My dear child . . . you were almost like the previous Fire Lords . . . you cared nothing for the Nation of Fire. You only wanted to amuse yourself and test your limits. I knew that Fumiko's time was drawing near. So I sent her a son that would interest you. A son to be born on the anniversary of the day you arrived. A day that no other child could be born on unless they would receive your power."

"I see." Hellfire nodded to herself before looking up at Agni. "Father . . . will Zuko get his happily ever after?"

"You should know that there is no such thing." He muttered as he lowered his head.

"But he will be happy." A new voice interrupted the two. Both father and daughter turned to look at the new comer.

"Ah, Yue!" Agni's smile reached his eyes. "What brings the new moon goddess here?" Yue smiled at Agni before directing her attention to Hellfire.

"I have seen to it that Katara's father will agree to the marriage. I have visited him in a dream and told him that he must agree. That the gods themselves bless that couple."

"Ah, so there answers your question, my child." Agni nodded. He looked back at Hellfire. "And . . . I heard you when you were talking to Yue. I am very proud of you, Hellfire." Hellfire smiled up at her father.

"Thank you, father." She looked at Yue. "And thank you, Yue. I only wish I could be there for my son's wedding." Agni sighed and shook his head.

"I'm sorry, but you can not physically be there. Your body had to be burned in order to return to me. But spiritually, you may go." She bowed to her father before turning to leave.

"Once again, I thank you." She disappeared in a swirl of fire, leaving the moon goddess and the fire god alone.

"When she's not meddling, she's a good child." Agni muttered as he laid back down. Yue smiled up at the fire dragon.

"I'm sure you consider her a good child no matter what."

"That is true," Agni nodded. "But I still wonder . . . what will I do when she falls in love." Yue couldn't help but laugh, causing the great fire god to join in her laughter.

* * *

Okay, that's the end of Crimson Regret! Please tell me what you think. Well, I hope you guys like my next story better. I'll have a more . . . lighter character in it. It won't be as dark as this one got at some points, though it wasn't that dark. It just wasn't all fun. And it was a pain to write but I wanted to write it because it was bugging me in my head. But for my next story! It will be called Agni's Flames. In it, Zuko's aunt shows up and makes a deal with him. What will the deal be? And what will happen? 


End file.
